Alveolar Macrophage Phenotype and Compartmentalization Drive Different Pulmonary Changes in Mouse Strains Exposed to Cigarette Smoke.

COPD can manifest itself with different clinical phenotypes characterized by different disease progression and response to therapy. Although a remarkable number of studies have been carried out, little is known about the mechanisms underlying phenotypes that could guide the development of viable future therapies. Several murine strains mirror some human phenotypes after smoke exposure. It was of interest to investigate in these strains whether different pattern of activation of macrophages, and their distribution in lungs, is associated to changes characterizing different phenotypes. We chose C57Bl/6, and Lck deficient mice, which show significant emphysema, DBA/2 mice that develop changes similar to those of "pulmonary fibrosis/emphysema syndrome",