Dor P J, Ackerman S J, Gleich G J
Am Rev Respir Dis. 1984 Dec;130(6):1072-7. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1984.130.6.1072.
Sputum eosinophilia is characteristic of bronchial asthma, and sputum specimens from patients with asthma contain eosinophil-derived substances including Charcot-Leyden crystals (CLC) and the eosinophil granule major basic protein (MBP). Prior observations have indicated that an elevated sputum level of MBP is associated with asthma. To determine whether CLC protein was also elevated in asthma, we measured by specific radioimmunoassays the quantities of MBP and CLC protein in sputum specimens from 106 consecutive patients with various respiratory diseases and in sputum specimens from 10 patients hospitalized for asthma. The CLC protein was detected in all sputum samples, and the levels in the 116 samples averaged 3.5 micrograms/ml (range, 0.01 to 25 micrograms/ml). The CLC protein was significantly elevated in sputum specimens from patients with acute asthma and from patients with certain other respiratory diseases when associated with bronchopulmonary infection. In contrast, MBP levels in the 116 samples averaged 0.32 micrograms/ml (range, 0.01 to 8.8 micrograms/ml) and were significantly elevated only in patients with asymptomatic or acute asthma. Sputum MBP was not elevated in patients with bronchopulmonary infections unless acute asthma was also present. Thus, an elevated sputum MBP level was specifically associated with asthma, whereas an elevated CLC protein level was associated with both asthma and with bronchopulmonary infection in certain patient groups.
痰液嗜酸性粒细胞增多是支气管哮喘的特征，哮喘患者的痰液标本中含有嗜酸性粒细胞衍生的物质，包括夏科-莱登结晶（CLC）和嗜酸性粒细胞颗粒主要碱性蛋白（MBP）。既往观察表明，痰液中MBP水平升高与哮喘有关。为了确定哮喘患者的CLC蛋白水平是否也升高，我们通过特异性放射免疫测定法测量了106例连续患有各种呼吸道疾病的患者痰液标本以及10例因哮喘住院患者痰液标本中的MBP和CLC蛋白量。所有痰液样本中均检测到CLC蛋白，116份样本中的水平平均为3.5微克/毫升（范围为0.01至25微克/毫升）。急性哮喘患者以及患有某些其他呼吸道疾病且伴有支气管肺感染的患者痰液标本中CLC蛋白显著升高。相比之下，116份样本中MBP水平平均为0.32微克/毫升（范围为0.01至8.8微克/毫升），仅在无症状或急性哮喘患者中显著升高。支气管肺感染患者除非同时存在急性哮喘，痰液MBP不会升高。因此，痰液MBP水平升高与哮喘特异性相关，而CLC蛋白水平升高在某些患者组中与哮喘和支气管肺感染均有关。
