Alveolar fibroblasts in acute lung injury: biological behaviour and clinical relevance

作者：Quesnel C^*; Nardelli L; Piednoir P; Lecon V; Marchal Somme J; Lasocki S; Bouadma L; Philip I; Soler P; Crestani B; Dehoux M

来源：European Respiratory Journal, 2010, 35(6): 1312-1321.

DOI：10.1183/09031936.00074709

• Acute respiratory distress syndrome
• bronchoalveolar lavage fluid
• collagen 1
• fibrocyte
• migration
• repair

Although fibroblasts are key cells in the lung repair/fibrosis process, their characteristics are poorly studied in acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The aims of our study were to: 1) determine the biological behaviour of alveolar fibroblasts during ALI; and 2) to evaluate the clinical relevance of positive alveolar fibroblast culture from patients with ALI/ARDS.
Cells were cultured from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) obtained from 68 critically ill, ventilated patients: ALI n=17; ARDS n=31; and ventilated controls n=20. Patients were followed for 28 days and clinical data was recorded. We studied proliferation, migration and collagen-1 synthesis capacities of fibroblasts.
Cells expressing fibroblast markers were cultured from BAL obtained in six (35%) ALI patients and six (19%) ARDS patients, but never from ventilated controls. Alveolar fibroblasts exhibited a persistent activated phenotype with enhanced migratory and collagen-1 production capacities, with hyporesponsiveness to prostaglandin E(2) compared to normal lung fibroblasts (p <= 0.04). Positive fibroblast culture was associated with both an increased collagen-1 concentration and monocyte/macrophage percentage in BAL fluid (p <= 0.01), and with a reduced duration of mechanical ventilation (p<0.001).
We conclude that activated alveolar fibroblasts can be cultured either in ALI or ARDS and that their presence might reflect the initiation of the organising phase of ALI.

• 出版日期2010-6