Plasma exudation has been suggested to be an important component of the inflammatory response in asthma. Bradykinin elicits many of the features of asthma, including bronchoconstriction, cough, plasma exudation and mucus secretion. In an attempt to quantify local plasma exudation, we have employed a novel low-trauma technique with the aim of challenging and lavaging a central part of the bronchial tree, by selecting a medium sized bronchus. A fibreoptic bronchoscopy was performed in non-smoking healthy volunteers. The instrument was placed proximally in the right upper lobe bronchus. A plastic catheter, equipped with an inflatable latex balloon, was inflated with air (2-4 cmH2O). A solution (100 microl of either two different concentrations of bradykinin: 0.09 and 0.9 mg ml(-1) or normal saline) was instilled through the catheter and distal to the balloon. Eight minutes later a lavage procedure with 10 ml of saline was performed through the catheter. The procedure was then repeated twice, with the other solutions, but from the lingular and middle lobe bronchi. All solutions were given in a blinded fashion, and two different studies were performed. Lavage concentrations of albumin and IgG were quantified as measurements of plasma exudation. In our first study we found that bradykinin challenge significantly increased concentrations of albumin and IgG. In study two, there was no numeric increase in plasma proteins after local bradykinin challenge, but the concentration of thromboxane was significantly increased in lavages from bradykinin-challenged bronchi. Thus, local bronchial administration of bradykinin has the capacity to induce exudation of large plasma macromolecules into the bronchial lumen, as well as local thromboxane production.