Activation of eosinophils is more closely linked with interleukin-5 and nitric oxide production than tumor necrosis factor and immunoglobulin e levels

摘要

Eosinophils contain several proinflammatory mediators and are implicated in the initiation of diverse inflammatory responses [1], Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) is produced in eosinophilic progenitors, stored in cyto-plasmic granules of mature eosinophils, and released from activated eosinophils [2, 3].The ratio of serum ECP concentrations to peripheral blood eosinophil counts (ECP/Eo ratio) reflects the number of ECP molecules per circulating eosinophil, which is regarded as a potential indicator of eosinophil activation [4,5].Few studies have closely examined the relationships between the activation of eosinophils and the production of nitric oxide (NOx) and cytokines. The present study investigated the associations between eosinophil activation and the levels of interleukin-5 (IL-5), tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), NOx metabolites, and allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (slgE) scores.A total of 112 patients with acute bronchial asthma (57 males and 55 females) aged 3.2-9.5 years (median 6) were investigated. Age- and gender-matched healthy subjects (n = 25) were evaluated as a control group, who had no evidence of allergic diseases and atopic sensitization based on skin-prick test results.