Vol. 276, Issue 3, L501-L505, March 1999
Expression of heat shock protein 72 by alveolar macrophages in
hypersensitivity pneumonitis
Claudia
Racine,
Evelyne
Israël-Assayag, and
Yvon
Cormier
Unité de Recherche, Centre de Pneumologie, Institut de
Cardiologie et de Pneumologie, Hôpital and Université
Laval, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada G1V 4G5
The current study
was done to look at a possible role of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in
hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP). The specific aims were to determine
whether there was a difference in the expression of HSP72 in alveolar
macrophages (AMs) between mice challenged with HP antigen and
saline-treated control mice and between
AMs obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage from 18 patients with HP and 11 normal subjects. The expression of HSP72 was studied under basal
conditions and under a mild heat shock. HSP72 expression by AMs in
response to in vitro stimulation with
Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula was
lower in AMs of control mice than in those of HP animals. HSP72 was
constitutively expressed in AMs of both normal and HP subjects.
Densitometric ratios showed that AMs from normal subjects responded to
heat shock with a 39°C-to-37°C ratio of 1.72 ± 0.18 (mean ± SE), and AMs from HP patients responded with a ratio of 1.16 ± 0.16 (P = 0.0377). This
decreased induction by additional stress of AMs could lead to an
altered immunoregulatory activity and account for the inflammation seen
in HP.
bronchoalveolar lavage
