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Sampling the Airway: Improving the Predictive and Toxicological Value of Bronchoalveolar Lavage
Citation:
KODAVANTI, U. P. Sampling the Airway: Improving the Predictive and Toxicological Value of Bronchoalveolar Lavage. Presented at Society of Toxicology (SOT) Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, March 06 - 10, 2011.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation will cover lung injury biomarkers, as analyzed via bronchoalveolar lavage This will address novel techniques usefulness, pitfalls and challenges.
Description:
Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a relatively simple technique to obtain biological material in the form of BAL fluid (BALF) from airways of humans and laboratory animals. Numerous predictive biomarkers of pulmonary injury and diseases can be detected in BALF which aid in diagnosis and understanding mechanisms. Cells obtained from BALF can be cultured and/or used for determining transcriptional responses. Because BAL can be done both in animals and humans, it is amenable to animal-human extrapolation. As a terminal procedure in small animals, its value outside the context of pathological or functional change is limited; however, identification of novel biomarkers can provide mechanistic insights. Generally alveolar infiltration of neutrophils, eosinophils and lymphocytes correlates well with the pathological indices in acute toxicity; however, the BALF macrophage increases need to be interpreted in conjunction with other biomarker assessments. The identification of environmental chemicals, insoluble particulate materials and.infectious agents in BALF allows one to determine the cause and interpret acute injury to potential chronic outcome. Temporal assessment of antioxidants, cytokines, mucins, and changes in structural lung components can provide insights into disease progression; however, one must take into account the commonalities in the biomarkers between diseases for diagnostic purpose. Assessment of multiple biomarkers together with functional assessment ofthe lung and pathology often are necessary in interpretation of change. Newer approaches for collection and analysis of epithelial cells in animals may have translational value for biomarkers derived from humans. Airway specific biomarkers when analyzed in BALF and also in plasma/urine provide conclusive diagnostic values. The use of proteomic and transcriptomic approaches in assessment of biomarkers in BALF can accelerate our understanding of complex pulmonary diseases. This presentation will assess the predictive value of old and new emerging BALF endpoints in acute and chronic toxicity studies. (Does not reflect US EPA policy)