Abstract
We measured the plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) levels of human neutrophil peptides (HNP), which is antimicrobial cytotoxic peptides in azurophil granules of neutrophils, in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, Plasma HNP levels in 32 patients before treatment were higher than those in 25 normal healthy volunteers, but the levels were significantly decreased after the treatment of tuberculosis. High levels of HNP in BALF were also observed in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and there was a correlation between levels of HNP and Interleukin-8 in BALF. A negative correlation was found between plasma HNP levels before treatment and Δ%vital capacity (VC) (%VC after treatment-%VC before treatment). These findings suggest that deterioration of pulmonary function in active pulmonary tuberculosis may be caused by HNP released by neutrophils that accumulated in the lung.
