Immunophenotyping of bronchoalveolar lavage lymphocytes

Abstract

In summary, analysis of lymphocytes in BAL fluid has been important in our understanding of the pathophysiology of pulmonary diseases and has been useful in diagnosing various pulmonary inflammatory conditions. Standard methods used in the enumeration of lymphocytes from peripheral blood by flow cytometry may not always be applicable to the analysis of BAL in part due to the potential for heterogeneous populations of cells and nonpulmonary materials present. The development of a standardized procedure for the processing and immunophenotyping of BAL lymphocytes will make comparisons between various reports easier.