[Clinical characteristics of bronchial asthma in the elderly in relation to cell component in the airways].

Cellular responses in the airways of bronchial asthma, which might be affected with aging, were compared between 28 elderly (60 years old or more) and 28 younger (40 years old or less) patients with bronchial asthma. The cellular responses were observed to differentiate 500 cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), excluding epithelial cells. The average frequency of each type of cell in the BALF of the elderly asthmatics was 65.7% for macrophages, 15.5% for lymphocytes, 8.9% for neutrophils and 9.5% for eosinophils. In the younger asthmatics the average frequency was 61.8% for macrophages, 17.1% for lymphocytes, 4.1% for neutrophils and 16.1% for eosinophils. A significant increase in the frequency of neutrophils in BALF of the elderly cases was observed in steroid-dependent intractable asthmatics compared to the younger cases (p less than 0.05). An increase in frequency of eosinophils in the younger cases was also observed, although the difference in the frequency was not significant between the elderly and the younger intractable cases. A significant difference in the frequency of each type of cell in the clinical type of bronchial asthma was not present between the elderly and the younger cases. However, the frequency of neutrophils in elderly cases was significantly increased in Ib. bronchospasm + hypersecretion type compared to Ia. bronchospasm type (p less than 0.05), and was more elevated in II. bronchiolar obstruction type (p less than 0.01). The frequency of neutrophils was markedly more increased in the elderly cases with poor prognosis than in the younger cases (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)