The activation of eosinophils by cytokines is a major event in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. We have investigated the activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases and their functional relevance in eosinophil differentiation, survival, degranulation, and cytokine production. IL-5 induced phosphorylation and activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) and p38 MAP ...

The large specific granule of the human eosinophil contains a number of low molecular weight, highly basic proteins that have been purified to homogeneity, including the major basic protein (MBP) (1-3), 1 the eosinophil cationic protein (4, 5), and the eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (6, 7). The comparative physicochemical and immunochemical characteristics of these proteins have been examined in...

Mounting evidence suggests that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) modulates bronchoconstriction and eosinophil function in asthma. We have investigated the role of different chemokines in the eosinophil influx to the pleural cavity after LPS stimulation. Expression of mRNA for eotaxin, regulated on activation, normal T cells expressed and secreted (RANTES), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha, ...

BACKGROUND Recent studies that assessed the relevance of the blood eosinophil count as a biomarker in patients with COPD may have overestimated it because they included patients with asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS). We investigated the clinical implications of the blood eosinophil count in patients with non-ACOS COPD. PATIENTS AND METHODS From a Korean COPD Subtype Study (KOCOSS) cohort, ...

The role of selectins in mediating eosinophil recruitment in vivo was assessed in a model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mouse pleurisy. LPS administration resulted in significant eosinophil influx at 24 hours, whereas neutrophil recruitment to the cavity peaked at 4 hours and persisted for 24 hours. The anti-L-selectin monoclonal antibody (MoAb) MEL-14 effectively inhibited (by 97%) eosin...

Mast cell-eosinophil interactions in allergy have not yet been completely defined. To determine whether mast cells influence eosinophil survival, human peripheral blood eosinophils were incubated with rat peritoneal mast cell sonicate. After 3 days, viable eosinophils in medium were 21.3% compared with 44% with mast cell sonicate. Like sonicate, supernatants of compound 48/80-activated mast cel...

Eosinophils release their granule proteins extracellularly through exocytosis, piecemeal degranulation, or cytolytic degranulation. Findings in diverse human eosinophilic diseases of intact extracellular eosinophil granules, either free or clustered, indicate that eosinophil cytolysis occurs in vivo, but the mechanisms and consequences of lytic eosinophil degranulation are poorly understood. We...

Adherence of eosinophils to vascular endothelium and their accumulation at sites of allergen challenge are hallmarks of allergic inflammation. However, the molecular mechanisms mediating eosinophil adhesion under conditions of blood flow are not well understood. The present studies were performed to identify the receptors on human eosinophils involved in initiating adhesion to activated endothe...

Although an association between high blood eosinophil counts and endomyocardial disease has been known for nearly a hundred years, the reasons for this were not understood. Brockington, Luzzatto and Osunkoya (1970) suggested that eosinophil leucocytes, in susceptible persons, by some unknown mechanisms, cause endomyocardial damage. Evidence to support this possibility has come from three source...