Subject(s)
Internal Medicine/trends , Pulmonary Medicine/trends , Societies, Medical/trends , Clinical Competence , Education, Medical, Continuing/trends , Forecasting , Germany , Health Services Needs and Demand/trends , Hospitals, Special/trends , Humans , Internal Medicine/education , Palliative Care/trends , Pulmonary Medicine/education , Quality of Health Care/trendsABSTRACT
The study was carried out to investigate the effect of azelastine on the Substance P (SP) concentration in bronchoalveolar (BAL) and nasal (NAL) lavage obtained from atopic grass pollen asthmatics and non-atopic healthy subjects. In BAL and NAL fluids there was a significant elevation in the baseline concentration of SP between asthmatics and volunteers. Allergen provocation induced a rise of SP in BAL and NAL in asthmatics, but not in volunteers. Azelastine pre-treatment resulted in a significant reduction of SP in baseline concentration of SP in BAL and NAL from asthmatics. An elevation of SP in BAL or NAL fluids after allergen provocation was not seen in asthmatics pretreated with azelastine. Azelastine did not influence the SP concentration in BAL and NAL of volunteers.
Subject(s)
Asthma/metabolism , Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid/metabolism , Histamine H1 Antagonists/pharmacology , Nasal Cavity/metabolism , Phthalazines/pharmacology , Substance P/metabolism , Adolescent , Adult , Asthma/drug therapy , Exudates and Transudates/metabolism , Female , Humans , Male , Poaceae , Pollen , Rhinitis/metabolism , Therapeutic IrrigationABSTRACT
In pulmonary sarcoidosis, a chronic granulomatous disorder with different stages of activity, the proliferative capacity of the alveolar mononuclear cells is unknown. To get a closer look at this proliferation we combined pulse labeling (by means of tritium thymidine incorporation and autoradiography) with an immunocytochemical staining assay. This assay revealed on one single slide simultaneously blue CD4+ lymphocytes, brown CD8+ lymphocytes and red macrophages. We were able to show that CD4+ as well as CD8+ lymphocytes were radiolabeled only in the active state of the disease. But macrophage proliferation occurred independently of the activity of the disease. In other words with this combination of techniques, it is possible to differentiate, on a single slide, three subsets of mononuclear cells, in combination with their proliferative behavior.
