Altered Morphology and Increased Acid Hydrolase Content of Pulmonary Macrophages from Cigarette Smokers1–4

Abstract

Pulmonary alveolar macrophages were obtained by saline lavage from 24 healthy, male volunteers, of whom 13 were nonsmokers and 11 were cigarette smokers with a mean cumulative exposure of 9.6 pack-years. Fewer than 5 per cent of macrophages from nonsmokers contained crystalloid, retractile cytoplasmic inclusions of autofluorescent material, whereas 30 to 95 per cent of macrophages from smokers contained this material. Multinucleated giant cells were present in the lavage from 3 of 11 smokers, but giant cells were not lavaged from any of the 13 nonsmokers. Acid hydrolase concentrations were increased to as much as 6 times normal in the macrophages from smokers, and the increases correlated with the amount of daily cigarette consumption. the increased acid hydrolase concentrations in cells from smokers indicate a mechanism by which cigarette smoking and chronic pulmonary diseases may be related.