Methotrexate-induced Pneumonitis: Heterogeneity of Bronchoalveolar Lavage and Differences between Cancer and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

CONCLUSIONS: In MTX-P, cytological analysis of BAL may disclose up to six different patterns. In MTX-P affecting cancer patients, BAL tends to show the typical features of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, while, in rheumatoid arthritis patients, it is more heterogeneous, with a less intense lymphocytosis, a more pronounced neutrophilia, and a higher CD4/CD8 ratio. These differences could be related to a disparity in baseline pulmonary conditions between the two background diseases, i.e., to the presence of previously healthy lungs in cancer patients, and lungs already involved by the immune-mediated inflammatory processes, often not manifestly, in rheumatoid arthritis patients. PMID: 24372368 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Inflammation and Allergy Drug Targets - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Inflamm Allergy Drug Targets Source Type: research