The mechanism by which smoking leads to damage to lung tissue in susceptible hosts, is uncertain. Recently there has been description of specific changes (that is reduction) in the number and activity of certain key immune cell types - dendritic cells- as a result of cigarette smoke exposure. This work was done in animal models and we would like to develop methods that will allow us to examine if similar changes occur in humans who smoke. Reduced number and activity of dendritic cells would be expected to lead to increased incidence of infection - a common problem in patients with COPD.
Since dendritic cells come to the lung from the bloodstream, and one can detect them in the circulation, we will look at the dendritic cells that are present in the peripheral blood.
