Ishida T, Matsumura Y, Miyake A, Amitani R
Department of Internal Medicine, Kurashiki Central Hospital, Okayama, Japan.
Nihon Kyobu Shikkan Gakkai Zasshi. 1992 Nov;30(11):1951-6.
To investigate the morphological changes of local eosinophils in the lungs, we observed the ultrastructure of eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from patients with eosinophilic pneumonia. We also measured the BALF concentration of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) as an index of the activation of eosinophils. The eosinophils in BALF from patients with eosinophilic pneumonia showed various ultrastructural changes compared to eosinophils in BALF of the control patient. Changes included degranulation or disintegration of specific granules, cytoplasmic vacuolation, increased lipid droplets and the appearance of Charcot-Leiden crystals. These changes of BALF eosinophils were more prominent than those of peripheral blood eosinophils. ECP concentration (mean +/- SD) in BALF from patients with eosinophilic pneumonia was 12.2 +/- 7.78 micrograms/l which was significantly higher than the concentrations in patients with bronchial asthma not during an attack (1.36 +/- 2.08 micrograms/l) and in healthy control subjects (2.14 +/- 4.62 micrograms/l). These results suggest that local eosinophils in the lungs are activated and degranulated by various stimuli and undergo structural degeneration in eosinophilic pneumonia.
为研究肺部局部嗜酸性粒细胞的形态学变化，我们观察了嗜酸性粒细胞性肺炎患者支气管肺泡灌洗液（BALF）中嗜酸性粒细胞的超微结构。我们还测量了BALF中嗜酸性粒细胞阳离子蛋白（ECP）的浓度，作为嗜酸性粒细胞活化的指标。与对照患者BALF中的嗜酸性粒细胞相比，嗜酸性粒细胞性肺炎患者BALF中的嗜酸性粒细胞表现出各种超微结构变化。变化包括特异性颗粒的脱颗粒或崩解、细胞质空泡化、脂滴增加以及夏科-莱登结晶的出现。BALF嗜酸性粒细胞的这些变化比外周血嗜酸性粒细胞的变化更明显。嗜酸性粒细胞性肺炎患者BALF中ECP浓度（平均值±标准差）为12.2±7.78微克/升，显著高于非发作期支气管哮喘患者（1.36±2.08微克/升）和健康对照者（2.14±4.62微克/升）。这些结果表明，肺部局部嗜酸性粒细胞在嗜酸性粒细胞性肺炎中被各种刺激激活并脱颗粒，且发生结构退变。
