Airway inflammatory cells in upper and lower lobes in lungs of patients with and without emphysema.

Tissue destruction seen in emphysema is thought to be due to the proteolytic enzymes released by inflammatory cells. Since centriacinar emphysema is worse in upper lobes, it has been suggested that inflammation should be more marked in the upper lobes. To ascertain whether the inflammatory cell population in the walls and lumens of airways is similar in the upper and lower lobes and whether this distribution is altered by the presence of emphysema, we examined the number and types of airway inflammatory cells in 10 surgical pneumonectomy specimens. We found that there was no difference between the upper and lower lobes in the numbers and types of inflammatory cells in the airway walls and lumens. This was true whether or not emphysema was present. We conclude that, in this cross-sectional study, the presence of emphysema in the upper lobes of lung is not associated with an increased number of acute inflammatory cells.