In a series of 154 patients (116 male and 38 female) with so called pulmonary hamartoma the peak incidence was in the sixth decade, with only three patients less than 20 years of age. Sequential radiographs showed that in 55 patients the tumour first appeared in adult life and that in 53 it progressively increased in size. The age incidence and progressive growth leads to the conclusion that the tumour is a benign neoplasm rather than a hamartoma, consisting of various connective tissues intersected by clefts lined by respiratory epithelium.
Epithelial damage in the airways is a feature often observed in patients with asthma and is probably caused by the interaction of epithelial cells with leukocytes. As adhesion molecules are thought to be important in this interaction, we analyzed the expression and modulation of adhesion molecules on primary cultured human bronchial epithelial cells and the bronchial epithelial cell lines BEAS-2B and NCI-H292. E-selectin, P-selectin, and VCAM-1 were absent under basal and stimulated conditions. The adhesion molecules ICAM-1 (CD54), LFA-3 (CD58), and CD44 (H-CAM) were expressed basally on primary cultured human bronchial epithelial cells and the BEAS-2B and NCI-H292 cell lines. CD44 and LFA-3 expression did not change after stimulation with IFN-gamma or TNF-alpha. In contrast, ICAM-1 expression on human bronchial epithelial cells and BEAS-2B cells could be increased by incubation with PMA, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, and especially with the combination of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. The maximal ICAM-1 expression on both epithelial cell types was obtained with the combination of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma after 48 h of incubation. The NCI-H292 cell line was different in that it only showed increased ICAM-1 expression after stimulation with PMA and IFN-gamma and not by the combination of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha or with TNF-alpha alone. In conclusion, the bronchial epithelial cells tested express several adhesion molecules, but only ICAM-1 expression was influenced by inflammatory cytokines.
Background -The relationship between cell types in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and the clinical course of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been the subject of several studies. However, the results of these studies are not conclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the absolute and relative cell numbers in BAL fluid from patients with IPF and their survival. Methods -Results obtained from the initial BAL fluid analyses of all histologically proven cases of IPF (n = 49) were selected retrospectively. Cox's proportional hazards survival analysis was used for estimating the relationship between absolute and relative cell numbers and survival. Results -A negative relationship was found between both the absolute numbers and percentages of eosinophils in BAL fluid samples and survival. No such relationship was demonstrated for the absolute numbers or the percentages of any other cell type. Conclusions -Although this study has restrictions, these findings suggest a negative relationship between the absolute numbers and percentages ofeosinophils in BAL fluid samples and survival in patients with IPF.
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