Comparison of lymphocyte immune phenotypes in bronchoalveolar lavage of non-smoking patients with sarcoidosis and other interstitial lung diseases

The increase of CD3+CD4+ T lymphocytes, which are surface markers of T helper 1 and 17 type immune response leading to the granuloma formation, is usually observed in sarcoidosis patients, compared to other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) (1,2). Nevertheless patients in diverse stages of sarcoidosis, such as patients with L？fgren’s syndrome (LS) and advanced third or fourth chest X-ray (CXR) stage could have completely different BAL cellular profile (3)