[Eosinophil activation evaluated by using a anti-human secreted form of ECP antibody (EG2)].

EG2 is a monoclonal antibody which recognize activated eosinophils, and the increased number of eosinophils stained by EG2 suggest activation of the disease. In bronchial epithelium of patient with asthma, not only EG2-positive eosinophils but CD25-positive T lymphocytes are increased, and support the theory that asthma is a nonsuppurative inflammatory disease of bronchial tree. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness of patient with asthma, which was assessed by a methacoline provocation test, was correlated significantly with the number of EG2 positive-eosinophils in bronchial epithelium. Moreover, most of eosinophils infiltrated to bronchial epithelium in patient with fatal asthma were EG2 positive. The severity of acute asthma attack however did not correlate with EG2-positive rate of eosinophils, but significantly correlated with releasability of granules from eosinophils in sputum of patients with asthma indicated by BMK-13 staining. There are many reports that EG2-positive eosinophils participate in the pathogenesis of other allergic diseases, several types of collagen disease and cancer therapy.