Eosinophils and asthma.

Recruitment and activation of eosinophils into the airways of asthma patients is suggested to be a contributing causative agent in the histopathologies and lung dysfunction that are characteristic of asthma. Recent studies in mouse models of asthma and in human patients implicate eosinophils in immune regulation and remodeling in the lung in addition to their hypothesized role as destructive agents. Specifically, eosinophils not only participate in release of granule proteins, lipid mediators, reactive oxygen species, cytokines, and growth factors but also function through complex cell-cell interactions to elicit chronic T helper 2 inflammation in the lung. This review highlights the roles of eosinophils in asthma.