Neutrophil-dependent and eosinophil-depedent chemiluminescence to phorbol myristate and opsonized zymosan with pooled human IgG in the patients with infectious diseases, pulmonary fibrosis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis and eosinophilia

Abstract

A rapid microassay of whole blood luminoldependent chemiluminescence (CL) was carried out in the patients with bacterial infections, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), bronchial asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) and eosinophilia. CL to phorbol myristate acetate (CL-PMA) and CL to opsonized zymosan (CL-OZ) was significantly elevated in the whole blood assay during either acute infections or during acute exacerbation of IPF. CL-PMA not CL-OZ of the separated polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL) was comparable to the whole blood CL responses. Both CL-PMA and CL-OZ in the whole blood assay but not in PMNL CL assay were moderately but significantly elevated in the patients with HP where this elevation of CL-OZ was correlated well with neutrophils (r=0.856) . In the patients with bronchial asthma, the elevation of CL-OZ was correlated well with eosinophil (r=0.98) but not with neutrophils. It is thus concluded that the elevation of CL-OZ in HP depended on neutrophils whereas that in bronchial asthma depended on eosinophils and that whole blood CL assay appeared to be more suitable for clinical evaluation of the disease or disease activities rather than that of PMNL CL assay, possibly through reflection of serum factors in the whole blood assay.