Heterogeneous chemotactic response of eosinophils from patients with atopic dermatitis to eosinophil chemotactic factors.

The chemotactic response of eosinophils from 16 patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) to 5 eosinophil chemotactic factors (ECFs) were examined to clarify whether the response is associated with the clinical severity of AD. The factors included ECF-P15, -P16, -P17, -P18 and -P19 and were derived from a T cell line, STO-2. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to the percentage migration of eosinophils produced by the ECFs: a high-responding group (migration > 40%), and a low-responding group (migration < 30%). In a statistical analysis, eosinophils from patients with AD and atopic respiratory diseases (ARD) were found to be high-responding and those from patients with AD alone low-responding (p < 0.01). In a comparison of the chemotactic response of eosinophils from patients with AD alone at remission and at exacerbation, the percentage migrations in response to ECF-P15 and ECF-P16 at exacerbation were significantly higher than that at remission (p < 0.05). It is thus suggested that this type of heterogeneous response of eosinophils to STO-2-derived ECFs could provide a useful tool for evaluation of disease severity in patients with AD.