EVIDENCE THAT NEUTROPHILS DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE LATE-PHASE AIRWAY RESPONSE PROVOKED BY OVALBUMIN INHALATION IN CONSCIOUS, SENSITIZED GUINEA-PIGS

Inhalation of ovalbumin by conscious, sensitized guinea pigs induced two phases of airway obstruction measured at 2 h (EAR) and at 17 h (LAR), respectively. In addition to causing airway obstruction, allergen challenge induced an accumulation in the bronchial lumen of eosinophil and neutrophil polymorphonuclear leukocytes at 17 h. Intraperitoneal injection of guinea pigs with a specific rabbit anti-guinea pig neutrophil serum 24 h before challenge reduced the number of circulating neutrophils by 94% and the airway neutrophilia after challenge by 90%, but it had no effect on the magnitude of either the EAR or the LAR. The observation that the LAR was not effected by neutropenia supports previous conclusions derived from experiments using the anti-allergic drugs, cromolyn sodium and nedocromil sodium, and the β2-adrenoceptor stimulant, albuterol, that, although there is a temporal relationship between neutrophil accumulation in the airways and the peak of the LAR, this polymorphonuclear leukocyte does not play a central role in the pathophysiologic processes that give rise to the late-phase response to guinea pig airways.