[Close positive correlation between the level of mite-specific lymphocyte proliferation and the percentage of peripheral blood eosinophils in infants with atopic dermatitis].

Eosinophils (Eo) are known to play a critical role in the chronic allergic inflammation, featuring pathologically in atopic dermatitis (AD), and the Eo percentage in the peripheral blood is elevated in AD infants (0 y) as well as in older AD children (3-15 y). In search of the most important factor in the increase of Eo percentage, we analyse the correlation between the level of Eo percentage in the peripheral blood and the levels of various allergy-related parameters. In AD infants, the level of Eo percentage was found to be correlated most strongly with the level of mite-specific lymphocyte proliferation expressed by S.I.F. (stimulation index measured by flow cytometry) (r = 0.88, p < 0.001). It also correlated significantly with the levels of serum IgE (r = 0.56, p < 0.05), egg white-specific IgE-RAST (r = 0.64, p < 0.01) and egg white-specific S.I.F.(r = 0.59, p < 0.02), but not with the levels of mite-specific IgE-RAST or candida-specific S.I.F. On the contrary, the level of Eo percentage correlated most intimately with the levels of serum IgE (r = 0.73, p < 0.001) and mite-specific IgE-RAST (r = 0.71, p < 0.001) in older AD children. These results suggest that mite-specific peripheral blood helper T lymphocytes, the proliferation of which is thought to be represented by S.I.F., play a more essential role in AD infants than in older AD children in the increase of Eo percentage in the peripheral blood.