Department of Dermatology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Switzerland.
Allergy. 2011 Nov;66(11):1477-86. doi: 10.1111/j.1398-9995.2011.02694.x. Epub 2011 Sep 2.
The function of eosinophils has been attributed to host defense, immunomodulation, and fibrosis. Although eosinophils are found among infiltrating cells in a broad spectrum of skin diseases, their pathogenic role remains uncertain. This study aimed to analyze the cytokine expression by eosinophils in different skin diseases.
Skin specimens from different skin diseases [allergic/reactive, infectious, autoimmune, and tumors/lymphomas (LY)] were stained by antibodies directed to eosinophil cationic protein, cytokines [tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-11, IL-13, IL-17, IL-25, IL-33, interferon-γ, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, and thymic stromal lymphopoietin], eotaxins (CCL11, CCL24, and CCL26), metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 as well as extracellular matrix proteins (tenascin-C and procollagen-3) and then analyzed by laser scanning microscopy.
The number of eosinophils varied considerably in and between disease groups and did not correlate with the numbers of accompanying inflammatory cells. The expression of IL-5, IL-6, IL-11, TGF-β, CCL24, and MMP-9 by eosinophils significantly differed between disease groups. Eosinophils in tumors/LY predominantly expressed IL-6, TGF-β, and CCL24, but not IL-11. On the other hand, in autoimmune diseases, eosinophils largely contributed to MMP-9 production. IL-5-generating eosinophils were particularly obvious in allergic and infectious diseases.
In skin diseases, eosinophil expresses a broad spectrum of cytokines. The different cytokine expression patterns suggest distinct functional roles of eosinophils in these diseases that might be related to host defense, immunomodulation, fibrosis, and/or tumor development.
嗜酸性粒细胞的功能归因于宿主防御、免疫调节和纤维化。虽然嗜酸性粒细胞存在于广泛的皮肤疾病的浸润细胞中，但它们的致病作用仍不确定。本研究旨在分析不同皮肤疾病中嗜酸性粒细胞的细胞因子表达。
用针对嗜酸性粒细胞阳离子蛋白、细胞因子（肿瘤坏死因子-α、白细胞介素-5、白细胞介素-6、白细胞介素-10、白细胞介素-11、白细胞介素-13、白细胞介素-17、白细胞介素-25、白细胞介素-33、干扰素-γ、转化生长因子-β和胸腺基质淋巴细胞生成素）、嗜酸性粒细胞趋化因子（CCL11、CCL24 和 CCL26）、金属蛋白酶（MMP-9）以及细胞外基质蛋白（腱蛋白-C 和前胶原蛋白-3）的抗体对来自不同皮肤疾病（过敏性/反应性、感染性、自身免疫性和肿瘤/淋巴瘤（LY））的皮肤标本进行染色，然后通过激光扫描显微镜进行分析。
疾病组内和组间的嗜酸性粒细胞数量差异很大，且与伴随的炎症细胞数量无关。嗜酸性粒细胞的白细胞介素-5、白细胞介素-6、白细胞介素-11、转化生长因子-β、CCL24 和 MMP-9 的表达在疾病组之间有显著差异。肿瘤/LY 中的嗜酸性粒细胞主要表达白细胞介素-6、转化生长因子-β和 CCL24，但不表达白细胞介素-11。另一方面，在自身免疫性疾病中，嗜酸性粒细胞主要参与 MMP-9 的产生。在过敏性和感染性疾病中，产生白细胞介素-5 的嗜酸性粒细胞尤其明显。
在皮肤疾病中，嗜酸性粒细胞表达广泛的细胞因子。不同的细胞因子表达模式表明嗜酸性粒细胞在这些疾病中具有不同的功能作用，这可能与宿主防御、免疫调节、纤维化和/或肿瘤发展有关。
