Enhanced Helminthotoxic Capacity of Eosinophils from Patients with Eosinophilia

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To determine whether eosinophils from patients with eosinophilia have an enhanced capacity to kill parasites, we compared purified eosinophils (mean purity, 89 per cent) from 30 patients with various degrees of eosinophilia and with or without infection with Schistosoma mansoni for the capacity to kill schistosomula, the larval stage of S. mansoni, in vitro. There was a significant correlation between peripheral eosinophil count and antibody-dependent, eosinophil-mediated death of parasites after 40 hours of culture (PS. mansoni infection.