GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTORS IN BRONCHOALVEOLAR CELLS FROM PATIENTS WITH IDIOPATHIC PULMONARY FIBROSIS

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Abstract
To clarify the physiologic and clinical significances of glucocorticoid recpetors in bronchoalveolar cells, the glucocorticoid receptor content was measured in bronchoalveolar cells obtained from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), normal volunteers, control patients with localized lung cancer and a group of patients with pulmonary manifestations associated with collagen-vascular diseases, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, pneumoconiosis and chronic bronchitis. The contents of glucocorticoid receptors in bronchoalveolar cells from patients with IPF (5561 .+-. 3741 sites/cell) and various pulmonary diseases (4452 .+-. 2097 sites/cell) were lower than those in bronchoalveolar cells from normal volunteers (9970 .+-. 4050 sites/cell) and control patients (8354 .+-. 4367 sites/cell). Patients with IPF, who had a lower glucocorticoid receptor content in bronchoalveolar cells, did not respond to glucocorticoids. Patients with IPF who responded well to glucocorticoids had as much glucocorticoid receptor conent in bronchalveolar cells as normal volunteers. Apparently, the content of glucocorticoid receptors in bronchoalveolar cells varies during disorders of the lung; this may be a useful parameter for predicting if glucocorticoid therapy will be effective in IPF.