Characterization of mononuclear phagocyte subpopulations in the human lung by using monoclonal antibodies: changes in alveolar macrophage phenotype associated with pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Current concepts of pulmonary sarcoidosis suggest that the alveolar macrophage plays a central role in the pathogenesis of the disease. To help define the population of alveolar macrophages in sarcoidosis, we compared the surface phenotype of alveolar macrophages from patients with sarcoidosis and from normal individuals by using monoclonal antibodies (63D3, OKM1, M phi P-9, M phi S-1, 61D3, and M…