Background: Exposure to dust from swine confinement buildings, causes an inflammatory response. Monocyte recruitment to the murine lung after instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been shown to partially depend on CD106/VCAM1. We wanted to determine whether this can be confirmed in man.
Methods: Non-naïve persons bearing personal air samples were exposed for 3 hr in a swine confinement building, and were bronchoscopied before and after exposure. Blood samples were taken at the time of bronchoscopy. Expression of adhesion molecules on leukocytes was investigated by flow cytometry in bronchoaveloar lavage (BAL) and blood.
Results: Expression of CD106 on alveolar macrophages, but not on neutrophils or T cells in BAL or blood, was up-regulated in proportion to the amount of LPS that individuals were exposed.
Conclusions: This argues for requirement of CD106 during inflammatory recruitment of monocytes to the human lung.