Inflammation and recruitment of immune cells into the lung

The mechanisms responsible for recruitment of antibody-forming cells (AFC) into lung lobes exposed to antigen are not known. Because instillation of antigen induces inflammation, AFC may enter immunized lung lobes by changes in vascular permeability and/or in response to the release of mediators. The purposes of this study were to evaluate inflammatory responses produced by particulate antigens or interleukin-1 (IL-1) and to examine the recruitment of AFC and lymphocytes into the lung in response to these inflammatory stimuli. Two peaks of inflammation were observed in the lung lobes of dogs exposed to sheep red blood cells (SRBC), one at 1 day and the second around 9 days after instillation. Lymphocytes did not enter the lung during the first inflammatory response. However, lymphocytes and anti-SRBC AFC did enter immunized lung lobes during the second inflammatory response. AFC and lymphocytes also entered a lung lobe instilled with rabbit red blood cells (RRBC) at 6 days after immunization with SRBC. The observation that lymphocytes did not enter at 1 day after instillation of SRBC, but did enter the RRBC lung lobe at 1 day after instillation of RRBC, suggested that a population of lymphocytes, including AFC, were present in blood several days after immunization with SRBC that were capable of entering sites of inflammation in the lung. Instilled IL-1 was chemotactic in vivo for neutrophils and induced inflammation in the lung. However, IL-1 was not directly chemotactic for AFC or lymphocytes in vivo.