title: Serum levels of eosinophil cationic protein and IL-5 in patients with asthma without systemic corticosteroids.
abstract: We measured the serum levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and interleukin-5 (IL-5) in 39 patients with asthma (symptomatic 12, asymtomatic 27) without systemic corticosteroids and 49 healthy subjects. There were significant differences in serum levels in both ECP and IL-5 between symptomatic and asymptomatic asthma, and healthy subjects. A significant positive correlation was found between serum levels of ECP and IL-5. No significant correlation was found between %FEV1 and serum level of ECP or IL-5, however, when the analysis was restricted to patients of less than 60 years of age, the correlations were significant. These results suggest that IL-5 is one of the factors that activate eosinophils even in peripheral blood, and that measurement of serum levels of ECP and IL-5 is useful for in vitro monitoring of asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Clinical Immunology, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Mibu, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Motojima
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tateishi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koseki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukuda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000276:immunology*; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D047091:Eosinophil Granule Proteins; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015166:Monitoring, Immunologic; D012260:Ribonucleases
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; D047091:Eosinophil Granule Proteins; D015848:Interleukin-5; D012260:Ribonucleases