Casolaro M A, Bernaudin J F, Saltini C, Ferrans V J, Crystal R G
Pulmonary Branch, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
Am Rev Respir Dis. 1988 Feb;137(2):406-11. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/137.2.406.
Langerhans' cells are a defined subpopulation of the mononuclear phagocyte system known to accumulate in the lung in histiocytosis X, an interstitial lung disorder strongly linked to cigarette smoking. To evaluate the hypothesis that cigarette smoking itself may be associated with the accumulation of Langerhans' cells in the lung, normal nonsmokers (n = 5) and normal smokers (n = 10) were evaluated by bronchoalveolar lavage for the presence of Langerhans' cells as identified by the OKT6 monoclonal antibody and by transmission electron microscopy. While the OKT6 antibody identified 0.1 +/- 0.1% of the cells recovered from nonsmokers, it labeled 1.1 +/- 0.3% of those recovered from smokers (p less than 0.01). Furthermore, while electron microscopy demonstrated no Langerhans' cells among the lavage cells from nonsmokers, 0.4 +/- 0.1% of the cells recovered from normal smokers contained characteristic intracytoplasmic Birbeck granules, positively identifying them as Langerhans' cells. We conclude that cigarette smoking is associated with an expansion in the population of Langerhans' cells on the epithelial surface of the lower respiratory tract. While the mechanisms underlying this accumulation are unknown, it is possible that the properties of these cells contribute to the derangements of the pulmonary parenchyma found in cigarette smoking and establish a biologic link to the already observed epidemiologic association between histiocytosis X and cigarette smoking.
朗格汉斯细胞是单核吞噬细胞系统中一个特定的亚群，已知在组织细胞增多症X（一种与吸烟密切相关的间质性肺病）中会在肺部积聚。为了评估吸烟本身可能与肺部朗格汉斯细胞积聚有关的假设，对正常不吸烟者（n = 5）和正常吸烟者（n = 10）进行了支气管肺泡灌洗，以通过OKT6单克隆抗体鉴定和透射电子显微镜观察朗格汉斯细胞的存在情况。OKT6抗体识别出从不吸烟者回收细胞中的0.1±0.1%，而它标记了从吸烟者回收细胞中的1.1±0.3%（p < 0.01）。此外，虽然电子显微镜在不吸烟者的灌洗细胞中未发现朗格汉斯细胞，但从正常吸烟者回收的细胞中有0.4±0.1%含有特征性的胞质内伯贝克颗粒，从而明确将它们鉴定为朗格汉斯细胞。我们得出结论，吸烟与下呼吸道上皮表面朗格汉斯细胞数量的增加有关。虽然这种积聚的潜在机制尚不清楚，但这些细胞的特性有可能导致吸烟时肺实质的紊乱，并与已观察到的组织细胞增多症X和吸烟之间的流行病学关联建立生物学联系。
