Preferential Destruction of Interstitial Macrophages over Alveolar Macrophages as a Cause of Pulmonary Disease in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus–Infected Rhesus Macaques

To our knowledge, this study demonstrates for the first time that the AIDS virus differentially impacts two distinct subsets of lung macrophages. The predominant macrophages harvested by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), alveolar macrophages (AMs), are routinely used in studies on human lung macrophages