Increased Generation of Leukotriene C4 from Eosinophils in Asthmatic Patients

Abstract
Human eosinophils with a density of over 1.095 were isolated from peripheral blood by dextran sedimentation, centrifugation with Lymphoprep and density gradients with Percoll. After the cells (1 .times. 105/ml) were incubated with 1 .mu.g/ml calcium inophore A23187 for 20 min, leukotriene C4 (LTC4) content in the supernatant was measured by radioimmunoassay. The generation of LTC4 was significantly higher in the cells from extrinsic asthmatics (23.5 .+-. 14.8 ng/106 cells, mean .+-. SD, n = 26, P < 0.01) and intrinsic asthmatics (24.6 .+-. 20.6 ng/106 cells, n = 27, P < 0.01) as compared with normal healthy subjects (8.3 .+-. 7.7 ng/106 cells, n = 10). There was no significant difference in the generation of LTC4 between intrinsic and extrinsic asthmatics. These observations indicate that eosinophils from asthmatic patients have increased ability to release LTC4.