Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Vol 151, No. 4, 04 1995, 1259-1262.
Adhesion molecules on eosinophils in acute eosinophilic pneumonia
Y Okubo, M Hossain, R Kai, E Sato, T Honda, M Sekiguchi, S Itoh and K Takatsu
First Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
We describe the clinical features, eosinophil surface analysis, and
concentration of interleukin-5 (IL-5) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and
in peripheral blood (PB) of a young male patient with acute eosinophilic
pneumonia. Eosinophilic pneumonia was diagnosed by BAL and by its clinical
course. There was no evidence of an infectious etiology, and the patient
showed rapid improvement with methylprednisolone pulse therapy (1 gm/d for
3 d). Significant differences in the expression of surface molecules such
as CD54, HLA- DR, and CD69 were observed between BAL and PB eosinophils;
IL-5 concentrations in BAL and in PB before treatment were 450 pg/ml and
700 pg/ml, respectively. After treatment, IL-5 concentration in PB was
reduced to below 100 pg/ml. The patient has shown no recurrence after
treatment.
