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Serum Levels of Eosinophil Cationic Protein Reflect the State of In vitro Degranulation of Blood Hypodense Eosinophils in Atopic Dermatitis
Author(s) -
Miyasato Minoru,
Tsuda Shingo,
Nakama Takekuni,
Kato Keiko,
Kitamura Naohisa,
Nagaji Junko,
Sasai Yoichiro
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
the journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1346-8138
pISSN - 0385-2407
DOI - 10.1111/j.1346-8138.1996.tb04038.x
Subject(s) - eosinophil cationic protein , eosinophil , eosinophilia , immunology , medicine , atopic dermatitis , degranulation , eosinophil granule proteins , granulocyte , in vitro , asthma , biology , receptor , biochemistry
In patients with atopic dermatitis (AD), serum levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) have been shown to be a good reflector of disease severity. To elucidate what serum levels of ECP actually reflect, ECP levels in serum and plasma and cytological aspects of blood eosinophils were examined in AD patients (n=27) and compared to healthy subjects (n=12). Significantly elevated levels of serum ECP were noted in AD patients, while plasma ECP were uniformly recorded at nadir levels in both AD patients and normal subjects. In addition to blood eosinophilia, AD patients had significantly increased numbers of hypodense eosinophils (HEo) with morphological characteristics consistent with an activated state. Serum ECP levels strongly correlated with HEo numbers rather than with total eosinophil counts. These results indicate that elevated levels of serum ECP may be a consequence of in vitro degranulation of “activated” HEo, not of ECP supplementation from lesional skin. In addition, the dynamic correlations of eosinophil‐associated parameters (total eosinophil counts, HEo numbers, and serum ECP levels) with AD severity suggest that inflammatory events in lesional skin may be involved in causing not only eosinophilopoiesis in bone marrow, but also development of HEo in the periphery, whose degree in turn may be mirrored in the levels of serum ECP in vitro .