Inflammatory Cells in Asthma
 

Summary

The lungs can be considered to comprise of foure compartments in which leukocytes ate found: lumen, Epithelium, Interstitial spaces and bronchus associated lymphoid tissue (BALT). The majority of organized lymphoid tissue in the lung is in the form of follicles that are located throughout the bronchial tree, named the BALT. The lung parenchyma normally contains few lymphoid cells.

Pulmonary lymphoid cells are predominantly of memory phenotype sparsely distributed along the submucosa and lamina propria. Lymphoid effector cells are also present above the epithelium membrane between the epithelium cells and within the intersitium. During the inflammatory process in asthma , the picture changes quite markedly , with lymphocyte and eosinophil infiltration into the bronchial mucosa.

Based on the recent findings, We try to clarify the phenotype and activities of T lymphocytes, characteristics functions of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL), role of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines , expression of adhesion molecules (such as ICAM-1 and VCAM-1) , role of dendritic cells in T lymphocyte selection and activation , and so on.