Skip to main content
PMC home page
Thorax logoLink to Thorax
. 1989 Sep;44(9):693–699. doi: 10.1136/thx.44.9.693

Cellular characteristics of sputum from patients with asthma and chronic bronchitis.

P G Gibson 1, A Girgis-Gabardo 1, M M Morris 1, S Mattoli 1, J M Kay 1, J Dolovich 1, J Denburg 1, F E Hargreave 1
PMCID: PMC462047  PMID: 2588203

Abstract

The reproducibility of sputum cell counts was examined and the cell counts in patients with asthma were compared with those in patients with chronic bronchitis. Three groups of subjects were studied. Sputum from eight patients with chronic asthma and with sputum production were studied to determine the reproducibility of sputum cell counts. The findings in 10 non-smokers with asthma uncomplicated by other airway disease examined at the time of an exacerbation with sputum (group 2) were compared with those from eight smokers with chronic cough and sputum but no features of asthma (group 3). Sputum plugs were selected by microscopy to ensure their origin from the lower respiratory tract. A total cell count was performed on a trypsinised suspension, and differential and metachromatic cell counts were performed on undiluted plugs. The within specimen and test-retest reproducibility of these measurements was high (reliability coefficient, R, = 0.99 and 0.89). The sputum of the asthmatic patients was characterised by eosinophilia (69%, range 46-92%) and the presence of formaldehyde blockable metachromatic cells (1.5%, range 0.6-2.8%). In comparison, the sputum of the patients with chronic bronchitis had few eosinophils (0.5%) or metachromatic cells (0.14%); the dominant cell type was the macrophage (83%). It is concluded that sputum cell counts are reproducible in the short term, the inflammation of asthma is characterised by eosinophilia and metachromatic cells in sputum, and sputum may provide a useful source of cells for investigating the cellular characteristics of airway inflammation.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BROWN H. M. Treatment of chronic asthma with prednisolone; significance of eosinophils in the sputum. Lancet. 1958 Dec 13;2(7059):1245–1247. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(58)91385-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baigelman W., Chodosh S., Pizzuto D., Cupples L. A. Sputum and blood eosinophils during corticosteroid treatment of acute exacerbations of asthma. Am J Med. 1983 Dec;75(6):929–936. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(83)90871-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. CHODOSH S., ZACCHEO C. W., SEGAL M. S. The cytology and histochemistry of sputum cells. I. Preliminary differential counts in chronic bronchitis. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1962 May;85:635–648. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1962.85.5.635. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cockcroft D. W., Killian D. N., Mellon J. J., Hargreave F. E. Bronchial reactivity to inhaled histamine: a method and clinical survey. Clin Allergy. 1977 May;7(3):235–243. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.1977.tb01448.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. DUNNILL M. S. The pathology of asthma, with special reference to changes in the bronchial mucosa. J Clin Pathol. 1960 Jan;13:27–33. doi: 10.1136/jcp.13.1.27. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Denburg J. A., Otsuka H., Ohnisi M., Ruhno J., Bienenstock J., Dolovich J. Contribution of basophil/mast cell and eosinophil growth and differentiation to the allergic tissue inflammatory response. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1987;82(3-4):321–326. doi: 10.1159/000234217. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dvorak A. M., Schleimer R. P., Lichtenstein L. M. Human mast cells synthesize new granules during recovery from degranulation. In vitro studies with mast cells purified from human lungs. Blood. 1988 Jan;71(1):76–85. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kimura I., Tanizaki Y., Saito K., Takahashi K., Ueda N., Sato S. Appearance of basophils in the sputum of patients with bronchial asthma. Clin Allergy. 1975 Mar;5(1):95–98. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.1975.tb01840.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kirby J. G., Hargreave F. E., Gleich G. J., O'Byrne P. M. Bronchoalveolar cell profiles of asthmatic and nonasthmatic subjects. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1987 Aug;136(2):379–383. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/136.2.379. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kramer M. S., Feinstein A. R. Clinical biostatistics. LIV. The biostatistics of concordance. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1981 Jan;29(1):111–123. doi: 10.1038/clpt.1981.18. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. O'Connell J. M., Baird L. I., Campbell A. H. Sputum eosinophilia in chronic bronchitis and asthma. Respiration. 1978;35(2):65–72. doi: 10.1159/000193861. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Okuda M., Ohtsuka H., Kawabori S. Basophil leukocytes and mast cells in the nose. Eur J Respir Dis Suppl. 1983;128(Pt 1):7–15. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Otsuka H., Denburg J., Dolovich J., Hitch D., Lapp P., Rajan R. S., Bienenstock J., Befus D. Heterogeneity of metachromatic cells in human nose: significance of mucosal mast cells. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1985 Nov;76(5):695–702. doi: 10.1016/0091-6749(85)90673-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Otsuka H., Dolovich J., Richardson M., Bienenstock J., Denburg J. A. Metachromatic cell progenitors and specific growth and differentiation factors in human nasal mucosa and polyps. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1987 Sep;136(3):710–717. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/136.3.710. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Salvato G. Some histological changes in chronic bronchitis and asthma. Thorax. 1968 Mar;23(2):168–172. doi: 10.1136/thx.23.2.168. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Schulman E. S., Kagey-Sobotka A., MacGlashan D. W., Jr, Adkinson N. F., Jr, Peters S. P., Schleimer R. P., Lichtenstein L. M. Heterogeneity of human mast cells. J Immunol. 1983 Oct;131(4):1936–1941. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Turnbull L. S., Turnbull L. W., Leitch A. G., Crofton J. W., Kay A. B. Mediators of immediate-type hypersensitivity in sputum from patients with chronic bronchitis and asthma. Lancet. 1977 Sep 10;2(8037):526–529. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)90664-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Vieira V. G., Prolla J. C. Clinical evaluation of eosinophils in the sputum. J Clin Pathol. 1979 Oct;32(10):1054–1057. doi: 10.1136/jcp.32.10.1054. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wardlaw A. J., Dunnette S., Gleich G. J., Collins J. V., Kay A. B. Eosinophils and mast cells in bronchoalveolar lavage in subjects with mild asthma. Relationship to bronchial hyperreactivity. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1988 Jan;137(1):62–69. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/137.1.62. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Warr G. A., Martin R. R. Histochemical staining and in vitro spreading of human pulmonary alveolar macrophages: variability with cigarette smoking status. J Reticuloendothel Soc. 1978 Jan;23(1):53–62. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Thorax are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES