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Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI115449

Interleukin-5 and the posttreatment eosinophilia in patients with onchocerciasis.

A P Limaye, J S Abrams, J E Silver, K Awadzi, H F Francis, E A Ottesen, and T B Nutman

Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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Published October 1, 1991 - More info

Published in Volume 88, Issue 4 on October 1, 1991
J Clin Invest. 1991;88(4):1418–1421. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI115449.
© 1991 The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Published October 1, 1991 - Version history
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Abstract

To understand the role of the eosinophilopoietic cytokine IL-5 in humans, the posttreatment eosinophilic response in a group of microfilaria (mf)-positive patients with onchocerciasis (n = 10) was examined before and after treatment with diethylcarbamazine (6 mg/kg for 7 d). Sequential blood samples were assessed at 24 and 1 h before treatment (baseline values), then at frequent intervals over the next 14 d. Symptom scores, skin microfilariae (mf), and peripheral blood eosinophil counts were recorded as a function of time after treatment, and serum levels of IL-5 were quantitated by a highly sensitive (sensitivity greater than or equal to 20 pg/ml) monoclonal-based ELISA. Pretreatment eosinophil counts ranged from 240 to 1,186 eosinophils/microliter (geometric mean, 675), and the mf counts from 10 to 218 per mg skin (geometric mean, 79). After an initial decline in the peripheral eosinophil count to 28 +/- 8% of pretreatment levels at 8 h after beginning treatment, the eosinophil counts steadily increased over the next 2 wk, reaching a maximum at 14 d (257 +/- 38% of pretreatment levels). Serum levels of IL-5 rose sharply from pretreatment levels to a peak of 70.5 +/- 11 pg/ml by 24 h after treatment. Serum IL-5 remained elevated over the next 2-3 d and declined toward baseline by approximately 6 d after treatment, at which time the eosinophil levels were steadily increasing. IL-3 and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, two other cytokines implicated in eosinophilopoeisis, were not detectable in the serum at any time before or after treatment. The rise in serum IL-5 before the posttreatment eosinophilia seen in this group of patients with onchocerciasis demonstrates a temporal relationship between IL-5 and the subsequent development of eosinophilia and implicates IL-5 as an important mediator of eosinophilia in humans.

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