Eotaxin and eosinophil recruitment: implications for human disease

SM Rankin, DM Conroy, TJ Williams, SM Rankin… - Molecular medicine …, 2000 - cell.com
SM Rankin, DM Conroy, TJ Williams, SM Rankin, DM Conroy, TJ Williams
Molecular medicine today, 2000cell.com
Eosinophils have been implicated in a broad range of diseases, notably allergic conditions
(for example, asthma, rhinitis and atopic dermatitis) and other inflammatory disorders (for
example, inflammatory bowel disease, eosinophilic gastroenteritis and pneumonia). These
disease states are characterized by an accumulation of eosinophils in tissues. Severe tissue
damage ensues as eosinophils release their highly cytotoxic granular proteins. Defining the
mechanisms that control recruitment of eosinophils to tissues is fundamental to …
Abstract
Eosinophils have been implicated in a broad range of diseases, notably allergic conditions (for example, asthma, rhinitis and atopic dermatitis) and other inflammatory disorders (for example, inflammatory bowel disease, eosinophilic gastroenteritis and pneumonia). These disease states are characterized by an accumulation of eosinophils in tissues. Severe tissue damage ensues as eosinophils release their highly cytotoxic granular proteins. Defining the mechanisms that control recruitment of eosinophils to tissues is fundamental to understanding these disease processes and provides targets for novel drug therapy. An important discovery in this context was the identification of an eosinophil-specific chemoattractant, eotaxin. Over the past six years there has been intensive investigation into the biological effects of eotaxin and its role in specific disease processes and this is the subject of this review.
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