Lymphocyte migration into different lung compartments during an antigen induced inflammation: is the spleen a major reservoir of these lymphocytes?

The hypothesis was tested whether lymphocytes of immunized and pulmonary challenged LEW rats adhere in higher numbers to the lung vascular bed than control lymphocytes and whether these immigrating cells come from the spleen. The kinetic of a primary immune response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was characterized in different lung compartments such as the vascular marginal pool, the interstitium and the bronchoalveolar space. The adherence of genetically labeled splenocytes from SRBC-immunized and challenged rats and from non-challenged rats was investigated in challenged lungs using the ex vivo system of the isolated buffer-perfused lung (IPL).