[123I-IMP accumulation in the lung with bronchial asthma--early uptake and delayed washout]

123I-IMP is taken up by the pulmonary capillary endothelial cells during the first pass through the lung, and is slowly released from them. To look up the factors which influence on the prolonged 123I-IMP retention in the diseased lung, we examined the correlation between the 123I-IMP uptake during the first pass and the 123I-IMP retention. Patients with bronchial asthma had no abnormal finding in the chest X-ray photograph. However 123I-IMP release from their lungs was delayed. Some patients show a tendency that 123I-IMP uptake during the first pass was uneven, which suggested the change in amine uptake function of endothelial cells. However their correlation coefficients between the uptake during the first pass and the prolonged retention were very small. It was considered that the prolonged 123I-IMP retention in the diseased lung was not explained only by the change in uptake function of pulmonary capillary endothelial cell.