Kl. Woolley et al., EOSINOPHIL APOPTOSIS AND THE RESOLUTION OF AIRWAY INFLAMMATION IN ASTHMA, American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 154(1), 1996, pp. 237-243
Citations number
35
Categorie Soggetti
Emergency Medicine & Critical Care","Respiratory System
Asthma is accompanied by the accumulation of potentially damaging eosi
nophils within inflamed airways. How eosinophils may be removed from t
he airways is not clear. The phagocytic removal of eosinophils in vitr
o requires that they undergo apoptosis, a form of cell death. We postu
lated that eosinophil apoptosis may occur in vivo, promoting the remov
al of airway eosinophils and the resolution of inflammation in asthma.
We examined eosinophil apoptosis in sputum samples obtained from 11 s
ubjects during an asthma exacerbation and 2 wk after corticosteroid tr
eatment of the exacerbation. Airway function improved following cortic
osteroid treatment, and eosinophilic inflammation subsided, with signi
ficant decreases occurring in the number of airway eosinophils and the
percentage of activated eosinophils. The proportion of apoptotic airw
ay eosinophils increased significantly following corticosteroid treatm
ent, and eosinophil products were apparent within macrophages. Our fin
dings indicate that eosinophil apoptosis is clinically relevant in ast
hma. Apoptosis may represent a mechanism that promotes the resolution
of eosinophilic inflammation in asthma.