Published ahead of print on November 11, 2004, doi:10.1165/rcmb.2004-0239OC Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., Volume 32, Number 2, February 2005, 142-148 A more recent version of this article appeared on February 1, 2005
Submitted on July 27, 2004 Characterization of the interstitial lung and peripheral blood T cell receptor repertoire in smokersStephanie Korn1,1 Pulmonary Department, Mainz University Hospital, Mainz, Germany, 2 Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Mainz University Hospital, Mainz, Germany, 3 Department for Medical Biometry, Epidemiology and Informatics, Mainz University Hospital, Mainz, Germany * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: r.buhl{at}3-med.klinik.uni-mainz.de.
T lymphocytes modulate the pulmonary inflammatory response. Aim of this study was to evaluate the clonality within the interstitial lung and peripheral blood T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in smokers. Interstitial T lymphocytes were isolated from surplus tissue of 16 pts. (63±9 (±SD) yrs., 11 male) undergoing surgery due to lung cancer (n=15) or emphysema. TCR clonality was assessed by PCR amplification followed by spectratyping. Nearly all TCR of interstitial lung lymphocytes showed oligoclonal bands (CD4+ subset 13/16 pts, 81%; CD8+ 100%) indicating a specific differentiation. Peripheral blood T lymphocytes (PBL) TCR (especially CD4+) had less oligoclonal bands (CD4+ 31%, CD8+ 88%). Likewise, more oligoclonal bands were seen in lung TCR (total of 168 bands; 37 CD4+; 131 CD8+), compared with 59 bands in PBL TCR (13 CD4+; 46 CD8+). Intraindividual comparison revealed a more prominent difference in TCR oligoclonality between lung and blood in CD8+ T cells (median of difference lung minus blood 5; interquartile range 1-10; p=0.002) compared to CD4+ T cells (median 2, 0-3, p=0.039). Thus, TCR oligoclonality is preferentially found in the CD8+ T cell subset, most distinctive in the lung. These findings indicate a specific interstitial T cell differentiation in response to local stimuli.
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