Heterogeneity of human peripheral blood eosinophils: variability in cell density and cytotoxic ability in relation to the level and the origin of hypereosinophilia.

Considerable variations in the distribution of eosinophil populations were revealed by density gradient centrifugation of peripheral blood leukocytes from 14 normal subjects and 31 patients with a transient or persistent hypereosinophilia. Such a purification procedure enabled us to collect in healthy controls, eosinophils (77.1 +/- 15.9% SD purity) with an appreciable cell recovery (21.7 +/- 14.0% SD) in the densest gradients ('normodense' cells). A high degree of purity was obtained in the same gradients, with leukocytes from patients with hypereosinophilia (84.4 +/- 11.9% SD pure eosinophils) but the cell recovery was significantly decreased (4.1 +/- 3.4% SD; p less than 0.001). A study of the various fractions found to contain eosinophils showed cells with an altered cellular density ('hypodense' cells) especially in marked hypereosinophilia. Furthermore, studies on leukocytes from patients with a very high hypereosinophilia (differential cell count greater than 70%) led to the recovery of almost pure fractions of eosinophils in the low density gradients. Functional studies were performed on each distinct cell fraction collected. They included investigations of their cytotoxic ability in a heterologous antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity assay and their biochemical activity by using a previously described technique evaluating the membrane hexose transport. Variability in the functional potentialities was observed in relation to the cellular density: higher cytotoxic eosinophil abilities were noted in the case of the 'hypodense' cell population. According to biochemical criteria, these latter cells appear to be more activated and capable of responding to stimulation.