Bronchopulmonary Lavage in Normal Subjects and Patients with Obstructive Lung Disease

Human alveolar macrophages: comparison of phagocytic ability, glucose utilization, and ultrastructure in smokers and nonsmokers

“…Five of the subjects were nonsmokers and six were cigarette smokers (Table I). Bronchopulmonary lavage was used to obtain the macrophages (7). Using topical xylocaine anesthesia, the trachea was intubated with a size 19 (French) Metras1 bronchographic catheter.…”

Pinocytosis by Human Alveolar Macrophages COMPARISON OF SMOKERS AND NONSMOKERS

“…The lung was irrigated with five 50-ml portions of warm physiologic saline (13) and lavage fluid withdrawn by gentle suction using a 50-ml syringe. Approximately 50% of the lavage fluid was recovered.…”

The human alveolar macrophage: isolation, cultivation in vitro, and studies of morphologic and functional characteristics

“…Voisin, Guillaume, Van-Moorleghem, and Aerts (7) maintained guinea pig alveolar macrophages in tissue culture for as long as 2 wk in order to study their changing phagocytic and metabolic characteristics. In 1967 Finley, Swenson, Curran, Huber, and Ladman (8) devised a method for washing alveolar macrophages from human subjects, and subsequently Pratt, Finley, Smith, and Ladman (9) reported electron microscopic studies of cells retrieved by this technique. The method, however, was found to be unsuitable for use in patients with abnormal lung function, and the number of cells recovered was too small to allow large-scale studies.…”

“…We therefore developed a method for retrieving alveolar macrophages from surgically removed human lungs. Alveolar macrophages obtained by this method and by the method of Finley (8) were maintained in tissue culture for prolonged periods. The long-term in vitro survival of cells obtained from the surgical specimens has enabled us to study the metabolic requirements for phagocytosis, the capacity of the cells to kill bacteria, and the function of the cells in certain disease states.…”