Abstract
While the antimicrobial capacity of the neutrophils has been extensively examined, the eosinophil has recently been received attention as an effective phagocyte, especially in patients with congenital neutropcnia.
We examined bactericidal properties and chemotaxis of eosinophils and compared with those of neutrophils. Eosinophils were obtained from a patient with hypereosinophilic syndrome and neutrophils were obtained from healthy adults.
The response of eosinophils in the chemotaxis to Staphylococcus aureus culture filtrates under agarose plate method was low compared with that of neutrophils. At bacteria/phagocytes ratio of 1:3∼4, eosinophils killed Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus faecalis as effectively as neutrophils, but at bacteria/phagocytes ratio of 1:2, eosinophils were observed to be less active in killing bacteria than neutrophils. Eosinophils showed a greater capacity in reducing NBT dye under resting conditions than neutrophils.
These findings suggested that eosinophil failed to protect the host from bacterial infection when neutrophil reserves were diminished.
