Schwab Dieter, Müller Susanna, Aigner Thomas, Neureiter Daniel, Kirchner Thomas, Hahn Eckhart G, Raithel Martin
Department of Medicine 1, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
Am J Gastroenterol. 2003 Jul;98(7):1525-34. doi: 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2003.07484.x.
The aim of this study was to characterize the functional and morphologic features of eosinophils in the intestinal mucosa of patients with food allergy.
Eighteen patients with food allergy and 11 controls took part in this study. In every patient, corresponding biopsy samples obtained during colonoscopy were quantitatively assessed by immunohistochemical methods (EPO-I) and subjected to mucosa oxygenation using eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP). Initial basal release, spontaneous and anti-IgE-dependent release, and the total ECP content of mucosal biopsies were studied.
Morphologically, mucosal eosinophils in patients with food allergy have distinct features, occur in larger amounts, and show a distinct distribution pattern (i.e., intraepithelial, lamina propria, and submucosa). Their initial basal release is similar to that of controls, but stimulation of the IgE receptor with anti-IgE results in 40-fold activation (p < 0.001). In food allergy patients, the density of eosinophils, the presence of intraepithelial eosinophils, and the rate of degranulation showed a highly significant correlation to the initial basal release of ECP by mucosal tissue (Kendall tau = 0.619, 0.381, and 0.609, respectively; p < 0.05 for all) but not to their capability to be stimulated with anti-IgE.
Eosinophils of the lower intestine of patients with food allergy show characteristic features with regard to morphology, distribution, and functional behavior to IgE receptor stimulation. Immunostaining of eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) detects important characteristic features that are missed with conventional hematoxylin-eosin staining.
本研究旨在描述食物过敏患者肠道黏膜中嗜酸性粒细胞的功能和形态学特征。
18名食物过敏患者和11名对照者参与了本研究。对每位患者在结肠镜检查期间获取的相应活检样本采用免疫组织化学方法（EPO-I）进行定量评估，并使用嗜酸性粒细胞阳离子蛋白（ECP）进行黏膜氧合测定。研究了黏膜活检样本的初始基础释放、自发释放和抗IgE依赖性释放以及ECP的总含量。
在形态学上，食物过敏患者的黏膜嗜酸性粒细胞具有明显特征，数量更多，且呈现出独特的分布模式（即上皮内、固有层和黏膜下层）。它们的初始基础释放与对照者相似，但用抗IgE刺激IgE受体可导致40倍的激活（p < 0.001）。在食物过敏患者中，嗜酸性粒细胞密度、上皮内嗜酸性粒细胞的存在以及脱颗粒率与黏膜组织ECP的初始基础释放高度显著相关（肯德尔tau系数分别为0.619、0.381和0.609；均p < 0.05），但与它们被抗IgE刺激的能力无关。
食物过敏患者下肠道的嗜酸性粒细胞在形态、分布以及对IgE受体刺激的功能行为方面表现出特征性特点。嗜酸性粒细胞过氧化物酶（EPO）免疫染色可检测到常规苏木精-伊红染色所遗漏的重要特征。
