ECP level in nasopharyngeal secretions and serum from children with respiratory virus infections and asthmatic children

Infection with respiratory virus has been shown to exacerbate asthma in hum ans. However, the role of a respiratory virus in the pathogenesis of chroni c asthma and/or wheezing in young children has not been clearly defined. It has also been debated whether vines-induced wheezing in young children is one entity and allergic asthma another, or whether they are different expre ssions of the same disease. The present study was done to compare ECP conce ntrations in nasopharyngeal secretions and serum from 32 nonasthmatic wheez ing children with viral infections (RSV in 15 children; influenza B virus i n 17 children detected by immunofluorescence antibody technique), 8 asthmat ic children without viral infections, and 13 normal children as the control s to understand the role of eosinophil inflammation. The geometric mean of ECP in nasopharyngeal secretions was significantly higher in asthmatic chil dren than in children with virus-induced wheezing (p < 0.05). ECP levels of nasopharyngeal secretions from children with the virus-induced wheezing we re significantly greater than those of the controls. However, there were no significant differences in ECP levels in serum among subjects.