Leukotriene C4 production by normal-density and low-density eosinophils of atopic individuals and other patients with eosinophilia.

With the use of a percoll gradient separation procedure, eosinophils of individuals with asthma and with allergy could be separated into normal- and low-density cell fractions. The presence of low-density eosinophils possibly reflects an ongoing process of activation of these cells induced by the allergic reaction. Ca-ionophore-induced leukotriene (LT) C4 production, in the absence of added substrates, demonstrated a decreased potency for LT generation by low-density eosinophils compared with the LT generation of normal-density cells (57 +/- 33 ng and 103 +/- 44 ng per 10(6) cells, respectively). In contrast with the Ca-ionophore-induced LT formation, incubations with serum-treated zymosan in the presence of glutathione demonstrated higher productions of LTC4 with the low-density eosinophilic subpopulation compared with normal-density cells. This is compatible with a possibly higher expression of complement C3b receptors on the low-density eosinophils. Total arylsulfatase contents demonstrated that low-density eosinophils are not degranulated with respect to their small granules. Although release of the large granules by low-density eosinophils cannot be excluded, electron-microscopy studies indicated that degranulation is not the only (or major) factor that determines the density of the various eosinophilic subpopulations.