[Role of cytokines from BAL cells in granuloma formation]

Sarcoidosis is a disorder of unknown etiology characterized, pathologically, by the presence of granuloma. Recent advances in cellular and molecular biology have provided new avenues to assess mechanisms of granuloma formation. Cytokine and growth factors, produced and discharged from alveolar macrophages or T cells, are considered to have significant roles in the process of granuloma formation. To investigate the role of such cytokines in sarcoidosis, we examined the expression of them in bronchoalveolar lavage cells at mRNA levels. We applied reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique to estimate the amount of mRNA of each cytokine. From the RT-PCR analysis, TNF-alpha, IL-6, PDGF-B and GM-CSF were considered to play an important role at the local alveolar site of sarcoidosis. And TNF-alpha, IL-6, PDGF-B and IL-8 might form the cytokine network at the pulmonary inflammatory site of sarcoidosis.