CHEMI-LUMINESCENCE OF BRONCHOALVEOLAR LAVAGE CELLS AS AN INDICATOR OF LEUKOCYTE ACTIVATION IN RATS WITH A HYPERREACTIVE BRONCHUS

Activation and generation of inflammatory mediators by different leukocytes may be important in the pathogenesis of airway hyperreactivity. We studied the effect of active sensitization with ovalbumin as antigen and i.v. treatment with Sephadex particles on bronchial reactivity (BR) in rats and its possible relation to leukocyte infiltration (LI) and activation (LA) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). A marked BR to aerosols of serotonin (5-HT) and ovalbumin was found in Sephadex treated animals but not in control animals. In parallel to this a marked increase in BAL cell count from Sephadex-treated animals compared to controls was seen. This increase in BAL cell count corresponded with a clear augmentation of spontaneous, buffer-induced and C3Z-induced, luminol-amplified CL. We deduce that detection of CL of BAL cells from rats might be used for studying inflammatory mechanisms which lead to a hyperreactive bronchus.