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Bronchoalveolar Lavage of Murine Lungs to Analyze Inflammatory Cell Infiltration
Published on: May 4, 2017
[Comparative analysis of bronchoalveolar lavages in interstitial lung diseases]
Kyu Sub Song1, Woon Bo Heo, Dong Il Won
1Department of Clinical Pathology, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.
Insights
Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cell counts reveal distinct differences among interstitial lung disease types. Age, gender, and smoking habits do not impact these findings within specific ILD groups.
Area of Science:
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Interstitial lung disease (ILD) encompasses a heterogeneous group of lung disorders.
- Understanding cellular differences in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid is crucial for ILD diagnosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate variations in lymphocyte subsets and differential cell counts in BAL fluid among ILD patients.
- To analyze how age, gender, and smoking habits influence these BAL fluid characteristics.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of BAL fluid samples from 141 ILD patients.
- Examination of lymphocyte subsets and differential cell counts.
- Statistical analysis of differences based on ILD type, age, gender, and smoking status.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in total cell counts across ILD groups.
- Significant variations in percentages of neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and macrophages were observed.
- Distinct differences found in lymphocyte subsets (T cells, B cells, NK cells) and CD4/CD8 ratios among ILD types.
Conclusions:
- BAL fluid differential cell counts and lymphocyte subset analysis show significant variations between different ILD types.
- These cellular profiles can aid in the differential diagnosis of ILD.
- Patient demographics (age, gender, smoking) did not affect BAL fluid profiles within the same ILD.
Background:
This study was purposed to find out the differences in the lymphocyte subsets and differential cell counts of the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and to analyze the differences according to their ages, gender and smoking habits.
Methods:
BAL fluid samples of 141 ILD patients were examined for lymphocyte subsets and differential cell counts, and the differences among the patients were analyzed according to their diseases. Then, within the three most common disease groups, the differences were further analyzed by the age, gender and smoking habit of the patients.
Results:
There were no statistically significant differences in total cell counts (per millimeters of BAL fluid) among the patient groups with each ILD. However, significant differences were observed in the percentages of neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and macrophages of BAL fluid. Also, in lymphocyte subset analyses, the percentages of total T cells, B cells, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, CD4/CD8 T cell ratios, and NK cells were significantly different among the patients with each ILD. However, within the same disease group, there were no differences in differential cell counts and lymphocyte subset analyses according to the age, smoking habit, and gender of the patients.
Conclusions:
Although the age, smoking habit and gender did not have an effect on the BAL fluid analyses among the patients with the same ILD, there were significant differences among the patients with each ILD; therefore, the differential cell counts and lymphocyte subset analyses of BAL fluid can be useful in differential diagnosis for determining the types of ILD.
