alveolar-capillary barrier and the neutrophil

ABSTRACT

There is substantial clinical evidence that neutrophils participate in the inflammatory responsese in the lungs that contribute to the pathophysiology of acute lung injury. Additional observations indicate that paltelet products, such as adenine nucleotides and thrombospondin, may serve to modulate the functional behaviour of the neutrophil. As neutrophils injure endothelium and subsequently the basement membrane, it is possible that basement membrane proteins and proteolytic fragments of those proteins are released and in turn modulate and prime the neutrophil for subsequent oxidative metabolism. A better understanding of the factors that regulate stimulus response coupling, as well as the factors that modulate neutrophil responses, may permit introduction of specific interventions that could ameliorate the inflammatory responses seen in acute lung injury