Maintenance of the normal rat alveolar macrophage cell population. The roles of monocyte influx and alveolar macrophage proliferation in situ.

We investigated the relative importance of monocyte influx and alveolar macrophage proliferation in maintenance of the alveolar macrophage population in normal rats. Two experimental approaches were used. To detect possible monocyte influx, we radiolabeled blood monocytes by a continuous infusion of tritiated thymidine for 7 days and assayed lavaged alveolar macrophages for radiolabel by autoradio…