Abstract
Specimens of bronchial mucosa and lung were obtained from 22 patients with peripheral eosinophilia and the interrelationships among peripheral blood eosinophil count, degree of tissue eosinophile infiltration, lung function and allergological test were studied. Thirteen patients showed mild peripheral eosinophilia (400-1, 000/mm^3), 6 were moderate (1, 000-2, 000/mm^3) and 3 were marked (2, 000/mm^3-). Judging from all data, 8 of 22 cases were bronchial asthma, 6 were chronic bronchitis, 6 were PIE syndrome and 2 were allergic granulomatous angitis. No bronchial asthma or chronic bronchitis case showed moderate or marked peripheral eosinophilia. A significant relationship was found between the peripheral eosinophil count and degree of eosinophilic infiltration in the bronchial mucosa and also between the peripheral eosinophilic count and degree of eosinophilic infiltration in the lung parenchyma. No significant relationship was found between the peripheral blood count and the serum IgE level or respiratory threshold to acetylcholine. No differences were found in the %VC and FEV_<1.0>% among patients with mild, moderate or marked eosinophilia. However, a significant difference was found in %DL_<CO> between patients with mild and moderate eosinophilia. This finding might be explained by damage to lung parenchyma due to major basic protein released from eosinophils.
