Toxic oil syndrome mortality: the first 13 years. (1/1319)

BACKGROUND: The toxic oil syndrome (TOS) epidemic that occurred in Spain in the spring of 1981 caused approximately 20000 cases of a new illness. Overall mortality and mortality by cause in this cohort through 1994 are described for the first time in this report. METHODS: We contacted, via mail or telephone, almost every living member of the cohort and family members of those who were known to have died in order to identify all deaths from 1 May 1981 through 31 December 1994. Cause of death data were collected from death certificates and underlying causes of death were coded using the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision. RESULTS: We identified 1663 deaths between 1 May 1981 and 31 December 1994 among 19 754 TOS cohort members, for a crude mortality rate of 8.4%. Mortality was highest during 1981, with a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of 4.92 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.39-5.50) compared with the Spanish population as a whole. The highest SMR, (20.41, 95% CI: 15.97-25.71) was seen among women aged 20-39 years during the period from 1 May 1981 through 31 December 1982. Women <40 years old, who were affected by TOS , were at greater risk for death in most time periods than their unaffected peers, while older women and men were not. Over the follow-up period, mortality of the cohort was less than expected when compared with mortality of the general Spanish population, or with mortality of the population of the 14 provinces where the epidemic occurred. We also found that, except for deaths attributed to external causes including TOS and deaths due to pulmonary hypertension, all causes of death were decreased in TOS patients compared to the Spanish population. The most frequent underlying causes of death were TOS, 350 (21.1%); circulatory disorders, 536 (32.3%); and malignancies, 310 (18.7%). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that while on average people affected by toxic oil syndrome are not at greater risk for death over the 13-year study period than any of the comparison groups, women <40 years old were at greater risk of death.  (+info)

Eotaxin contributes to renal interstitial eosinophilia. (2/1319)

BACKGROUND: A potent eosinophil chemotactic cytokine, human eotaxin, is directly chemotactic for eosinophils. Therefore, the specific expression of eotaxin in tissue might play a crucial role in tissue eosinophilia. However, the precise molecular mechanism of the recruitment and activation of eosinophils in human renal diseases remains to be investigated. We evaluated the role of eotaxin in the pathogenesis of human diffuse interstitial nephritis with marked infiltration of eosinophils. METHODS: In this study, we examined 20 healthy volunteers. 56 patients with primary or secondary glomerular diseases and two hypereosinophilic syndrome patients without renal involvement. Urinary and serum eotaxin levels were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We also detected the presence of eotaxin protein immunohistochemically. RESULTS: On the one hand, urinary levels of eotaxin were significantly higher before the initiation of glucocorticoid administration in the patient with interstitial nephritis with marked infiltration of eosinophils. On the other hand, urinary eotaxin levels were not detected in any patients with nephrotic syndrome, interstitial nephritis without eosinophils, hypereosinophilic syndrome without renal involvement or other renal diseases. Serum eotaxin levels were not detected in any of the patients. Therefore, the detection of eotaxin in the urine was specific for renal interstitial eosinophilia. Moreover, endothelial cells, infiltrating mononuclear cells and renal epithelial cells in the tubulointerstitial lesions were immunostained with specific anti-eotaxin antibodies. Furthermore, the elevated urinary levels of eotaxin decreased dramatically during glucocorticoid-induced convalescence. HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesize that in situ expression of eotaxin may provide a new mechanism to explain the renal interstitial eosinophil infiltration.  (+info)

A case of eosinophilic myocarditis complicated by Kimura's disease (eosinophilic hyperplastic lymphogranuloma) and erythroderma. (3/1319)

This report describes a patient with eosinophilic myocarditis complicated by Kimura's disease (eosinophilic hyperplastic lymphogranuloma) and erythroderma. A 50-year-old man presented with a complaint of precordial pain. However, the only abnormal finding on examinatioin was eosinophilia (1617 eosinophils/microl). Three years later, the patient developed chronic eczema, and was diagnosed with erythroderma posteczematosa. One year later, a tumor was detected in the right auricule, and a diagnosis of Kimura's disease was made, based on the biopsy findings. The patient developed progressive dyspnea 6 months later and was found to have cardiomegaly and a depressed left ventricular ejection fraction (17%). A diagnosis of eosinophilic myocarditis was made based on the results of a right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy. The eosinophilic myocarditis and erythrodrema were treated with steroids with improvement of both the eosinophilia and left ventricular function.  (+info)

Differential chemokine expression in tissues involved by Hodgkin's disease: direct correlation of eotaxin expression and tissue eosinophilia. (4/1319)

Hodgkin's disease (HD) is a lymphoid malignancy characterized by infrequent malignant cells surrounded by abundant inflammatory cells. In this study, we examined the potential contribution of chemokines to inflammatory cell recruitment in different subtypes of HD. Chemokines are small proteins that are active as chemoattractants and regulators of cell activation. We found that HD tissues generally express higher levels of interferon-gamma-inducible protein-10 (IP-10), Mig, RANTES, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha (MIP-1alpha), and eotaxin, but not macrophage-derived chemotactic factor (MDC), than tissues from lymphoid hyperplasia (LH). Within HD subtypes, expression of IP-10 and Mig was highest in the mixed cellularity (MC) subtype, whereas expression of eotaxin and MDC was highest in the nodular sclerosis (NS) subtype. A significant direct correlation was detected between evidence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in the neoplastic cells and levels of expression of IP-10, RANTES, and MIP-1alpha. Levels of eotaxin expression correlated directly with the extent of tissue eosinophilia. By immunohistochemistry, IP-10, Mig, and eotaxin proteins localized in the malignant Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells and their variants, and to some surrounding inflammatory cells. Eotaxin was also detected in fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells of vessels. These results provide evidence of high level chemokine expression in HD tissues and suggest that chemokines may play an important role in the recruitment of inflammatory cell infiltrates into tissues involved by HD.  (+info)

Treatment with interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon (IFN(alpha 2b)) after autologous bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in onco-hematological malignancies with a high risk of relapse. (5/1319)

Nine patients with onco-hematological malignancies with a poor prognosis due to high risk of relapse received immunotherapy with interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon (IFN(alpha 2b)) s.c. as maintenance therapy after receiving autologous bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (ABMT/PBSCT). All the patients were considered at very high risk of relapse. We attempted to assess the efficiency, toxicity and clinical effects of these cytokines in these patients. Five patients were treated with high-dose of IL-2 and the other four patients with escalating doses every month. Side-effects in the first group of patients consisted of fever, chills, weakness, nausea, anorexia, loss of weight and local dermatitis in the injection site. Toxicity on the WHO scale was grade II in three patients and grade IV in the other two patients. In the second group of patients, the same clinical signs of toxicity appeared, but these were grade I on the WHO scale in all patients. None of the patients had infections or died in relation to administration of IL-2. Four patients died of relapse or progression of their hematological malignancies. The other five patients are alive, one in chronic phase of CML and the other four patients are in complete remission of their malignancies.  (+info)

CD8 T cells are essential in the development of respiratory syncytial virus-induced lung eosinophilia and airway hyperresponsiveness. (6/1319)

Viral respiratory infections can cause bronchial hyperresponsiveness and exacerbate asthma. In mice, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection results in airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and eosinophil influx into the airways. The immune cell requirements for these responses to RSV infection are not well defined. To delineate the role of CD8 T cells in the development of RSV-induced AHR and lung eosinophilia, we tested the ability of mice depleted of CD8 T cells to develop these symptoms of RSV infection. BALB/c mice were depleted of CD8 T cells using anti-CD8 Ab treatment before intranasal administration of infectious RSV. Six days postinfection, airway responsiveness to inhaled methacholine was assessed by barometric body plethysmography, and numbers of lung eosinophils and levels of IFN-gamma, IL-4, and IL-5 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were monitored. RSV infection resulted in airway eosinophilia and AHR in control mice, but not in CD8-depleted animals. Further, whereas RSV-infected mice secreted increased amounts of IL-5 into the airways as compared with noninfected controls, no IL-5 was detectable in both bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and culture supernatants from CD8-depleted animals. Treatment of CD8-depleted mice with IL-5 fully restored both lung eosinophilia and AHR. We conclude that CD8 T cells are essential for the influx of eosinophils into the lung and the development of AHR in response to RSV infection.  (+info)

Poverty and eosinophilia are risk factors for endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF) in Uganda. (7/1319)

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relative risks of socio-demographic, dietary, and environmental factors for endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF) in Uganda. METHOD: Unmatched case control study in Mulago Hospital, Kampala. Cases (n = 61) were sequential patients hospitalized with an echocardiographic diagnosis of EMF from June 1995 to March 1996. Controls (n = 120) were concurrent patients with other forms of heart disease (heart controls, n = 59) and subjects admitted for trauma or elective surgery (hospital controls, n = 61). All consenting subjects answered a structured questionnaire administered by trained interviewers. Complete blood counts, malaria films and stool examination for ova and parasites were performed. Questionnaires elicited information on home address, economic circumstances, variables concerned with environmental exposures and usual diet before becoming ill. RESULTS: After adjustment for age and sex, cases were significantly more likely than controls to have Rwanda/Burundi ethnic origins (P = 0.008). Compared with controls, cases had a lower level of education (P < 0.001 for heart controls and P = 0.07 for hospital controls), were more likely to be peasants (P < 0.001), and to come from Luwero or Mukono Districts (P = 0.003). After further adjustment for peasant occupation, cases were more likely than controls to walk barefoot (P = 0.015), consume cassava as their staple food (P < 0.001) and to lack fish or meat in dietary sauces (P = 0.02). Cases were more likely to exhibit absolute eosinophilia (P = 0.006). The effect of cassava diet was more marked in the younger age group, while the effect of eosinophilia was greater in adults. Socio-economic disadvantage is a risk for EMF. Absolute eosinophilia is a putative cause of EMF, a finding not explained by parasitism. CONCLUSION: Data indicate that relative poverty and environmental factors triggering eosinophilia appear to act in a geographically restricted region of Uganda in the aetiology of EMF.  (+info)

An adoptive transfer model of allergic lung inflammation in mice is mediated by CD4+CD62LlowCD25+ T cells. (8/1319)

Animal models of allergic lung inflammation have provided important insight into the cellular and biochemical factors involved in the pathogenesis of human asthma. Herein, we describe an adoptive transfer model of OVA-specific eosinophilic lung inflammation in the mouse that is used to characterize the cells involved in mediating the pulmonary inflammatory response. We report that freshly isolated spleen cells from OVA-sensitized mice are unable to prime naive recipient mice to respond to a subsequent OVA aerosol challenge. Subjecting the spleen cells to short term restimulation with Ag in vitro, however, renders the cells competent to transfer activity. The magnitude and the kinetics of the eosinophilic pulmonary inflammation in the adoptive transfer recipients are nearly identical with those generated by a more conventional active sensitization/challenge protocol, with the notable exception of differential production of plasma IgE in the two models. Extensive negative and positive selection of splenocyte subtypes indicates that the transfer of Ag-primed CD4+ T cells is both necessary and sufficient to establish full responsiveness in the recipient mice. Additional phenotypic characterization of the transfer-reactive CD4+ T cells indicates that they are found within the CD62LlowCD25+ subset and secrete high levels of IL-5 in response to Ag stimulation. Limiting dilution analysis-derived minimal frequency estimates indicate that approximately 1 in 8500 of the sensitized, cultured spleen cells produces IL-5 in response to OVA stimulation in vitro, suggesting that eosinophilic lung inflammation can be induced in naive mice by the transfer of <1200 Ag-specific CD4+ T cells.  (+info)