Abstract
Altered basophil identification markers have been discovered to associate with allergic asthma (AA) recently. However, little is known of the expressions of basophil markers in blood granulocytes. We therefore parallel tested them in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) and granulocyte populations of patients with AA and combined allergic rhinitis and asthma (ARA) by flow cytometry and assessed their diagnostic performance and examined plasma levels of EDN, LTC(4) and PGD(2). We found CCR3(+) cell numbers increased markedly in granulocytes of AA and ARA patients. Almost all isolated CCR3(+) PBMC were basophils, but CCR3(+) granulocytes contained up to 96.0% eosinophils and 12.8% basophils. The numbers of CD63, CD203c and FcεRIα expressing CCR3(+) granulocytes increased markedly, and the mean fluorescent intensity of CD203c, FcεRIα and CD63 expression on CCR3(+) granulocytes and PBMC enhanced consistently in AA and ARA patients. The area under the curve achieved the highest values for CD203c(+)CCR3(+) granulocyte numbers in AA and ARA patients. Plasma levels of EDN, LTC(4) and PGD(2) in AA and ARA patients increased and correlated well with CCR3(+) granulocyte numbers. In conclusion, discovering basophils in peripheral blood granulocytes provides greater scope for the clinical use of basophil tests.