Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Vol 150, No. 1, 07 1994, 153-158.
Short-term and long-term effects of serial bronchoalveolar lavages in a nonhuman primate model
F Krombach, E Fiehl, D Burkhardt, R Rienmuller, G Konig, BC Adelmann-Grill, H Idel and M Rosenbruch
Pneumologische Abteilung, Klinikum Grosshadern, Universitat Munchen, Germany.
Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) has gained widespread use as a tool for
investigating human lung diseases. In certain cases, it can be useful to
obtain BAL material in a serial manner. There is convincing evidence from
experimental and clinical studies that BAL can cause influx of neutrophils
into the bronchoalveolar space. However, conflicting data have been
reported on whether this side effect of BAL also affects previously
nonlavaged lung areas. In addition, there is little information available
on whether multiple repetitive BAL procedures cause damage to lung tissue.
To reexamine the short-term effects of serial BAL procedures, the left lung
of 10 cynomolgus monkeys was lavaged with five 20-ml aliquots of saline
four times at 24-h intervals (Group A). 72 h after the initial BAL, the
right lung was lavaged as a control. The percentage of neutrophils
increased significantly (p < 0.05), with the greatest effect seen at 48
h (30.7 +/- 5.8 versus 0.8 +/- 0.3%, mean +/- SEM). No significant changes
were observed in the control BAL of the right lung at 72 h. A
multidisciplinary approach was used to assess the long-term effects of
multiple BAL procedures. BAL was performed 14 times over 26 mo at 2-mo
intervals (Group B, n = 5). The right lung was lavaged as a control 25 mo
after the initial BAL. In addition to standard cellular BAL parameters, the
concentrations of fibronectin, procollagen III amino-terminal
peptide-related antigen, total phospholipids, and lactate dehydrogenase
activity were measured.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
