Circulating and pulmonary pool of leukocytes in respiratory disorders

Total count of activated leukocytes in venous and arterial blood, intensity of leukocyte infiltration of the lung were measured in experimental animals (dogs) and patients with acute pulmonary diseases. Relationships between circulating and marginal leukocyte pools in pulmonary diseases are complicated and heterogeneous. There is a certain phase cycle when the lungs either capture the activated cells or the activation takes place in pulmonary vessels followed by the cell release into the systemic blood stream. This process is dynamic and long-term.