: Fates of degranulated mast cells by challenge of the homologous antigen to the Clonorchis sinensis infected rats, and the extruded granules were examined by means of light and electron microscopy. The whole experiment was carried out six weeks after the Clonorchis infection and an observation was made at 1, 3, 5, 8, 12 hours after the antigen challenges. The abdomen of the infected rat was cut open by 2 centimeters and the antigen was directly inoculated to mesentery, then again sutured. According to the scheduled period, the rat was sacrificed. The challenged portion was cut out and followed by dying procedure. The results of the observation are summarized as follows: Degranulation was observed within one hour without noticeable change of the granules. Three hours after the inoculation, the shed granules were phagocytized by macrophage surrounding the mast cells. They were aggregated in the cytoplasm. In 5 days phagocytosis phenomenon were almost completed but still some granules were scattered in surroundings upto 12 hours. The nucleus of the degranulated cell appeared clearly in contrast to normal cells which were killed with granules. Membrane became to normal, and the granules which were not expelled out agglomerated in a large cavity. The above resulst suggest that the partially degranulated mast cells do not disintegrate, but recover to normal, and expelled granules are phagocytized by macrophages.
parasitology-helminth-trematoda ; Clonorchis sinensis ; pathology ; histology ; rat ; phagocytosis ; mast cell ; granule

It is well known that many eosinophils are infiltrated in the bronchial and nasal mucosa of allergic patients, and that eosinophil granule proteins can injure the bronchial epithelium. But it is uncertain whether epithelial injury occurs in the nasal mucosa of patients with allergic rhinitis and, if so, whether the injury is related with the eosinophil infiltration. The present study was made with the aim of determining the correlation between eosinophil infiltration and epithelial injury in the nasal mucosa of guinea pigs with experimentally induced nasal allergy. 2,4-Toluene diisocyanate (TDI) is considered to be a causative agent of allergic pulmonary disorder and allergic rhinitis. Guinea pigs were sensitized by applying TDI onto their bilateral nasal vestibules once a day for five consecutive days. Symptom scores, peripheral blood and histopathology of the nasal mucosa in the inferior turbinate were examined in both allergy and control group. The symptom scores were significantly higher in allergy group than in control group and the eosinophils of peripheral blood were found significantly higher in the allergy groups, especially in groups sacrificed 24 and 48 hour after provocation. As well, there was a positive correlation between how heavily infiltrated the eosinophils were and the level of epithelial loss in the nasal mucosa. The correlation was prominent in groups sacrificed 24 and 48 hour after provocation. The findings indicate that the epithelial injury occurs in the nasal mucosa of guinea pigs with nasal allergy and that injury is related to the eosinophil infiltration.
Animals ; Eosinophil Granule Proteins ; Eosinophils* ; Epithelium ; Guinea Pigs* ; Guinea* ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Nasal Mucosa ; Rhinitis* ; Toluene* ; Turbinates

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between IL-3 gene polymorphism and the levels of serum IL-3 and eosinophil cation protein (ECP) for understanding the role of IL-3 gene polymorphism in the mechanism of childhood asthma.

METHODSThe method of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was adopted in detecting +1923 site polymorphism of IL-13 gene in intron 3 region, ELISA was employed in detecting the level of serum IL-13, and fluorescent enzyme-linked immunoassay was used to detect the level of serum ECP.

RESULTSThe frequency distribution of TT, TC genotypes of IL-13 Intron 3+1923 site in asthmatic children was higher than that of CC genotype in normal control (P<0.05), and the levels of serum IL-13 and ECP of TT, TC genotypes were significantly higher than those of CC genotype respectively (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe close relationship of IL-3 gene polymorphism with the levels of serum IL-13 and ECP suggests that IL-3 gene polymorphism may play an important role in the mechanism of childhood asthma.

Asthma ; blood ; genetics ; Blood Proteins ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Eosinophil Granule Proteins ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Infant ; Interleukin-13 ; blood ; genetics ; Male ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Ribonucleases ; blood

BACKGROUND: Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), one of the eosinophil granule proteins released during allergic reactions, may play a major role in the allergic inflammatory process. The measurement of ECP in serum may be a useful indicator of eosinophil activity in ongoing inflammatory processes. We investigated the clinical utility of ECP measurement in serum in patients with bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis, after standardizing sample processing. METHODS: We measured the serum ECP levels in patients with bronchial asthma (n=38), chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) (n=13), respiratory symptoms (n=19), allergic rhinitis (n=26), non-allergic rhinitis (n=24), and atopic dermatitis (n=10) and in normal healthy controls (n=16) by the fluoroenzyme immunoassay using Pharmacia CAP System, and evaluated the correlation between ECP level and blood eosinophil number, or ECP and IgE levels. Blood eosinophil number was counted by the automated cell counter. RESULTS: Serum ECP levels were significantly higher in patients with bronchial asthma (15.6+/- 12.6 g/L), COPD (13.3+/-7.2 g/L), allergic rhinitis (23.8+/-13.2 g/L), and atopic dermatitis (20.6+/- 18.4 g/L) than in normal controls (7.5+/-4.2 g/L) (P <0.05). ECP levels were also significantly higher in patients with bronchial asthma and COPD than in patients with simple respiratory symptoms (6.9+/-4.7 g/L), whose ECP levels did not statistically differ from those in normal controls. ECP levels were also significantly higher in patients with allergic rhinitis than in patients with non-allergic rhinitis (9.5+/-5.1 g/L), whose ECP levels did not statistically differ from those in normal controls. Serum ECP level and eosinophil number in peripheral blood were correlated only in patients with bronchial asthma (r=0.53, P <0.01) and no correlation between ECP and IgE levels was found in all of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: ECP is the one of the secretory components released from the eosinophil granule and measurement of ECP in serum might be one of the noninvasive tool to assess the activity in relation to eosinophil involvement in various allergic diseases.
Asthma ; Cell Count ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Eosinophil Cationic Protein* ; Eosinophil Granule Proteins ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoassay ; Immunoglobulin E ; Lung Diseases, Obstructive ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Rhinitis

It has been suggested that dendritic cells (DCs) are critical antigen presenting cells for eosinophilic airway inflammation in a mouse model of asthma, and cysteinyl leukotrienes may play a role in DC trafficking in asthmatics. We investigated whether the number of DCs is increased in the induced sputum of both atopic and nonatopic asthmatics and is related to activated eosinophil count in the sputum. Sputum was induced by inhalation of hypertonic saline in 9 atopic and 12 nonatopic asthmatics and 10 nonatopic normal controls, and differential cell counts were performed. DCs and activated eosinophils were identified by immunocytochemistry with monoclonal antibodies (anti-CD1a and EG2, respectively). There were significantly higher percentages of eosinophils, EG2+ cells, and CD1a+ DC in the sputum of atopic and nonatopic asthmatics compared with normal controls, respectively. In asthmatics, the percentage of CD1a+ DC was significantly correlated with that of EG2+ cells (Rs=0.62, p=0.004). We demonstrated that the increased number of DCs was evident in the induced sputum of both atopic and nonatopic asthmatics, and the DC number was related to the activated eosinophil count, which suggests that DCs may contribute to the ongoing eosinophilic inflammation in asthmatic airways, and vice versa.
Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, CD1/analysis ; Asthma/*immunology/pathology ; Comparative Study ; Dendritic Cells/*immunology ; Eosinophil Granule Proteins/analysis ; Eosinophils/cytology/*immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Sputum/cytology/*immunology

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Pingchuan Mixture (PCM) on plasma eosinophil cation protein (ECP), interleukin-5 in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and inflammatory cell count in experimental guinea pigs with asthma.

METHODSThe eosinophil, neutrophil, lymphocyte count were conducted by conventional method, IL-5 was detected by ELISA and ECP determined by RIA.

RESULTSLevels of eosinophil, neutrophil, lymphocyte, ECP and IL-5 after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment, the difference between groups treated respectively by PCM, aminophylline, dexamethasone and Dingchuan Zhike Tablet was insignificant.

CONCLUSIONPCM could treat asthma by reducing the inflammatory cell count, ECP and IL-5.

Animals ; Asthma ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Blood Proteins ; metabolism ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Eosinophil Granule Proteins ; Eosinophils ; metabolism ; Guinea Pigs ; Interleukin-5 ; metabolism ; Ovalbumin ; Ribonucleases ; metabolism

To confirm local production of IgE, and evaluate role of immunoglobulins on eosinophil activation in nasal polyp (NP) tissue, we measured IgG, IgA, secretory IgA(sIgA), total (tIgE) and specific IgE (sIgE) to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus(DP) by ELISA in NP tissue homogenates from 51 subjects. They were classified according to skin reactivity to DP: group I, 15 highly atopic subjects; group II, 18 weakly atopic subjects; and group III, 18 non-atopic subjects. Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) level was measured by CAP system. Highest level of DP-sIgE was noted in group I, followed by group II and III (p<0.05). Nine (60%) of group I and 4 (22%) of group II subjects had detectable level of DP-sIgE with no significant differences in IgA, sIgA, and IgG. All of NP tissue had eosinophilic infiltration with no significant difference in activated eosinophil count or ECP level among 3 groups. A significant correlation was noted between EG2+ cell count and tIgE (r=0.55, p<0.05), and DP-sIgE level (r=0.60, p<0.05). A significant correlation was also noted between ECP and IgG (r=0.51, p<0.05) and DP-sIgE level (r=0.47, p<0.05) with no significant correlation with IgA or sIgA. These results suggest that DP-sIgE was detectable in NP tissue from weakly atopic subjects as well as highly atopic subjects. IgG and sIgE may have potential roles in eosinophil degranulation in NP tissue.
Blood Proteins/analysis ; Cell Degranulation/immunology ; Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus/immunology ; Eosinophil Granule Proteins ; Eosinophils/immunology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A/analysis/immunology ; Immunoglobulin E/analysis/immunology ; Immunoglobulin G/analysis/immunology ; Immunoglobulins/analysis/*immunology ; Nasal Polyps/*immunology/pathology ; *Ribonucleases

AIMTo evaluate the effect of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist(IL-1ra) on apoptosis and associated mechanism of eosinophil in guinea pig with asthma.

METHODSA model of guinea pig with asthma was established. After inhalation of different concentrations of IL-1ra, asthma was induced in the guinea pig for 8 days, the concentration of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), IL-5 in serum, the eosinophil counts and apoptosis were assayed by radioimmunology, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA), fluoromicroscope and light microscope.

RESULTSIL-1ra indirectly decreased the level of IL-5 in serum, improved the apoptosis of eosinophil(EOS) in lung, then decreased the level of ECP in serum and BALF.

CONCLUSIONInhalation of nebulized IL-1ra showed protective effect against asthma through change of the activity and infiltration of EOS in lung.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Asthma ; blood ; chemically induced ; pathology ; Blood Proteins ; metabolism ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; chemistry ; Eosinophil Granule Proteins ; Eosinophils ; drug effects ; pathology ; Female ; Guinea Pigs ; Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein ; Interleukin-5 ; blood ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Ovalbumin ; Random Allocation ; Receptors, Interleukin-1 ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Ribonucleases ; blood ; metabolism ; Sialoglycoproteins ; pharmacology