Aspiration techniques for bronchoalveolar lavage in translational respiratory research: Paving the way to develop novel therapeutic moieties

Abstract

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a simple, yet informative tool in understanding the immunopathology of various lung diseases via quantifying various inflammatory cells, cytokines and growth factors. At present, this traditional method is often blended with several robust and sophisticated molecular and biological techniques sustaining the significance and longevity of this technique. Crucially, the existence of slightly distinct approaches and variables employed at different laboratories around the globe in performing BAL aspiration indeed demands an utmost need to optimize and develop an effective, cost-effective and a reproducible technique. This mini review will be of importance to the biological translational scientist, particularly respiratory researchers in understanding the fundamentals and approaches to apply and consider with BAL aspiration techniques. This will ensure generating a meaningful and clinically relevant data which in turn accelerate the development of new and effective therapeutic moieties for major respiratory conditions.

Aspiration and Inspiration: Using Bronchoalveolar Lavage for Toxicity Assessment

“…Similarly, applying too much pressure (> 50 cm H 2 O pressure) to remove the lavage can result in lung damage. 12 This amount of pressure can easily be achieved with a syringe. Larger syringes can generate more pressure, so large syringes should not be used on small rodents and the same size syringe should be used uniformly in all study animals of the same species.…”

“…Whatever volume is used, gravity and mechanical suction methods have been shown to result in greater recovered volume and more cells than manual techniques in humans and animals, but the procedure is more time consuming. 8,12…”

Myrcene exerts anti-asthmatic activity in neonatal rats via modulating the matrix remodeling

“…For the experimentation, the pups were sensitized with intraperitoneal administration of OVA (20 μg) on day 1 and 7th and from the 14th until 28th days along with 30 min aerosol exposure of 1% OVA from 14th day onwards for 2 weeks. 16 At the end of the experimental period, the animals were killed, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid ( BALF) was collected to quantify infiltrating inflammatory cells 17 and blood was collected by cardiac puncture. Also, the lung tissues were collected for hematoxylin and eosin staining and Masson’s trichrome staining for collagen accumulation and the fibrosis was scored compared to the control group.…”