Published in:
01-05-2011 | Original Article
Quantification of neutrophil migration into the lungs of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Published in: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging | Issue 5/2011
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Objective
To quantify neutrophil migration into the lungs of patients with chronic pulmonary obstructive disease (COPD).
Methods
Neutrophil loss via airways was assessed by dedicated whole-body counting 45 min, 24 h and 2, 4, 7 and 10 days after injection of very small activities of 111In-labelled neutrophils in 12 healthy nonsmokers, 5 healthy smokers, 16 patients with COPD (of whom 7 were ex-smokers) and 10 patients with bronchiectasis. Lung accumulation of 99mTc-labelled neutrophils was assessed by sequential SPECT and Patlak analysis in six COPD patients and three healthy nonsmoking subjects.
Results
Whole body 111In counts, expressed as percentages of 24 h counts, decreased in all subjects. Losses at 7 days (mean ± SD) were similar in healthy nonsmoking subjects (5.5 ± 1.5%), smoking subjects (6.5 ± 4.4%) and ex-smoking COPD patients (5.8 ± 1.5%). In contrast, currently smoking COPD patients showed higher losses (8.0 ± 3.0%) than healthy nonsmokers (p = 0.03). Two bronchiectatic patients lost 25% and 26%, indicating active disease; mean loss in the remaining eight was 6.9 ± 2.5%. The rate of accumulation of 99mTc-neutrophils in the lungs, determined by sequential SPECT, was increased in COPD patients (0.030–0.073 min−1) compared with healthy nonsmokers (0–0.002 min−1; p = 0.02).
Conclusion
In patients with COPD, sequential SPECT showed increased lung accumulation of 99mTc-labelled neutrophils, while whole-body counting demonstrated subsequent higher losses of 111In-labelled neutrophils in patients who continued to smoke. Sequential SPECT as a means of quantifying neutrophil migration deserves further evaluation.