PURPOSE The goal of the present study was to investigate the role of platelet activating factor (PAF) and PAF receptor (PAF-R) in the recruitment of eosinophils into the conjunctiva in the course of PAF induced conjunctivitis. Eosinophils are important players in the immediate hypersensitivity reactions and in allergic conjunctivitis. PAF-R is expressed in many ocular tissues including conjunct...

Eosinophil granular protein deposits have been demonstrated in lesional atopic dermatitis skin. This suggests active tissue infiltration of eosinophils. To find an explanation for the tissue influx of eosinophils, eosinophil migration was studied in vitro by means of a microchemotaxis assay. Eosinophils from the circulation of patients with atopic dermatitis showed an altered capacity to respon...

BACKGROUND Interleukin (IL)-25 plays a pivotal role in type 2 immune responses. In a baseline cross-sectional study, we previously showed that IL-25 plasma levels and IL-25 receptor (IL-25R: IL-17RA, IL-17RB, and IL-17RA/RB) expression on mature blood eosinophils are increased in atopic asthmatics compared to normal nonatopic controls. This study investigated allergen-induced changes in IL-25 a...

Prostaglandin (PG) D2 is a major mast cell product that acts via two receptors, the D-type prostanoid (DP) and the chemoattractant receptor-homologous molecule expressed on Th2 cells (CRTH2) receptors. Whereas CRTH2 mediates the chemotaxis of eosinophils, basophils, and Th2 lymphocytes, the role of DP has remained unclear. We report in this study that, in addition to CRTH2, the DP receptor play...

Role of mast cells and eosinophils in oral tumours is not yet well define. Good and poor outcomes have been associated with eosinophils and mast cell abundant oral tumours. Major basic protein is one of the principal and specific proteins present in eosinophils. It is implicated in many pathological conditions including allergic reactions, parasitic infections and activation and stimulation of ...

The gastrointestinal immune system is traditionally thought to be composed of lymphocytes located within Peyer's patches and the lamina propria. We have recently reported that eosinophils also reside in the gastrointestinal tract during healthy states, in particular, within the lamina propria, and that these cells substantially increase after oral allergen exposure. We now demonstrate the prese...

BACKGROUND Previous work from our laboratory demonstrated that IL-4Rα expression on a myeloid cell type was responsible for enhancement of Th2-driven eosinophilic inflammation in a mouse model of allergic lung inflammation. Subsequently, we have shown that IL-4 signaling through type I IL-4 receptors on monocytes/macrophages strongly induced activation of the IRS-2 pathway and a subset of genes...

BACKGROUND Eosinophils play a pivotal role in asthmatic airway inflammation. Apoptosis is thought to be critically relevant in promoting the clearance of inflammatory cells and the resolution of inflammation. Bcl-2 inhibits apoptosis in cellular systems. A study was undertaken to determine whether bcl-2 expression in sputum reflects the clinical severity of patients with asthma. The relationshi...

Eosinophils are innate immune leukocytes implicated in the initiation and maintenance of type 2 immune responses, including asthma and allergy. The ability to store and rapidly secrete preformed cytokines distinguishes eosinophils from most lymphocytes, which must synthesize cytokine proteins prior to secretion and may be a factor in the apparent Th2 bias of eosinophils. Multiple studies confir...

One hundred consecutively submitted corneas removed by penetrating keratoplasty were studied histologically to determine the frequency in which eosinophils are found. In 20 corneas eosinophils occurred in densities ranging from 0.2 to more than 50 per high power field (HPF), and accounted for 1.5% to 100% of the total leucocytes counted. More than half of the corneal specimens containing eosino...