Special issue: Responsible writing in science

Eo si nop hil ca tio nic pro tein (ECP) is a he te ro ge neous mo le cu le ori gi na ti ng from ac ti va ted eo si nop hil gra nu lo cytes. Bio lo gi cal ac ti vi ty and the cel lu lar con te nt of ECP are de ter mi ned by ge ne tic and pos ttran sla tio nal fac to rs. Se ve ral sin gle nuc leo ti de po lymor phis ms (SNPs) in hu man ECP ge ne (RNASE3) ha ve been des cri bed so far. ECP is a me dia tor in ho st im mu ne res pon se to pa ra si tes, bac te ria and vi ru ses. By its cyto toxic and no n-cyto toxic ac ti vi ty, ECP may al so cau se si de-eff ec ts in the hos t’s own tis sues. The lar ge st num ber of cli ni cal stu dies is fo cu sed on the ro le of ECP in eo si nop hi lre la ted di sor de rs, par ti cu lar ly in as thma. Al thou gh pre se nt in nu me rous bo dy fl ui ds, diffi cu lt bioa vai la bi li ty of bio lo gi cal ma te rial, in va si ve sam pli ng met ho ds and com plex sam ple ma na ge me nt prior to ECP le vel de ter mi na tion are the rea so ns that se rum is mo st com mon ly used in rou ti ne la bo rato ry prac ti ce. As nu me rous bio lo gi cal and met ho do lo gi cal prea na lyti cal fac to rs (the type of col lec tion te st-tu be, tem pe ra tu re and du ra tion of blood clot ti ng, cen tri fu ga tion, he mo lysis) may aff e ct te st re su lt, the sam ple for se rum ECP de ter mi na tion shou ld be col lec ted un der stan dar di zed con di tions. Re gar di ng in ter pre ta tion of re sul ts, it is ne ces sa ry, alo ng wi th ab so lu te ECP con cen tra tion va lues, to mo ni tor chan ges in ECP con cen tra tion du ri ng the du ra tion of di sea se or af ter im ple men ted the ra py, and in ter pret ECP te st re su lt in com bi na tion wi th ot her la bo ra to ry and cli ni cal fi n din gs. Ratio nal ap proa ch to se lec tion of new tes ts is in deed one of im por ta nt requi re men ts that me di cal wor ke rs meet to day. To enab le them to de ter mi ne the cli ni cal sig ni fi can ce of ECP wi th bet ter cer tain ty, fur ther stu dies on a lar ge num ber of spe ci fi c pa tie nt grou ps are nee ded. Key wor ds: eo si nop hil ca tio nic pro tein; po lymor phi sm; cyto toxi ci ty; as thma