HETEROGENEITY OF HUMAN EOSINOPHILS .2. VARIABILITY OF RESPIRATORY BURST ACTIVITY RELATED TO CELL-DENSITY

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  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 57  (3) , 735-742
Abstract
Blood and tissue eosinophils were separated by density gradient centrifugation in discontinuous gradients of metrizamide. Blood eosinophils were obtained from 16 patients with blood eosinophil counts > 1 .times. 109/l. Resident eosinophils were isolated from alveolar fluid in 3 of these patients and from pleural effusion in 2 others. A large proportion of the eosinophils in these patients were of light buoyant density (hypodense) and a high percentage of these showed morphological evidence of hypogranulation. Hypodense eosinophils had a reduced capacity to reduce nitroblue tetrazolium or develop chemiluminescence after stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate. Thus, structural and metabolic heterogeneity exists among blood and tissue eosinophils in patients with a variety of eosinophilic disorders.