These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: The pulmonary alveolar macrophage.
    Author: McLennan G, DeYoung N.
    Journal: Aust N Z J Med; 1984 Oct; 14(5 Suppl 3):721-30. PubMed ID: 6398050.
    Abstract:
    The pulmonary alveolar macrophage (PAM) occupies a unique environment, with exposure to both the atmosphere and the blood stream. This position enables the PAM to perform its primary role of protecting the lung from inhaled, potentially damaging, agents. The effects of long term cigarette smoking on the human PAM appear to be functionally minimal when the cells are studied as a group, but the marked recruitment of PAM's which occurs in smokers leads to a greater potential for PAM helpful and/or damaging activity within the lung. The traditional role of phagocytosis is not a global function of the unstimulated human PAM. Of increasing importance for the understanding of pulmonary disease is the ability of the PAM to modulate lymphocyte, polymorphonuclear leukocyte and fibroblast activity. These functions are primarily for the defence of the lung but often produce temporary or permanent lung damage. Subclassification of the human PAM based upon functional heterogeneity may lead to a better understanding of the role of this cell.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]