Abstract
The human eosinophil has long been thought to favorably influence innate mucosal immunity but at times has also been incriminated in disease pathophysiology. Research into eosinophil biology has uncovered a number of interesting contributions by eosinophils to health and disease. However, it appears that not all eosinophils from all species are created equal. It remains unclear, for example, exactly how having eosinophils benefits the human host when helminth infections in the developed world have become scarce. This review focuses on our current state of knowledge as it relates to human eosinophils. When information is lacking, we discuss lessons learned from mouse studies that may or may not directly apply to human biology and disease. It is an exciting time to be an quot eosinophilosopher quot because the use of biologic agents that selectively target eosinophils provides an unprecedented opportunity to define the contribution of this cell to eosinophil-associated human diseases.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 179-209 |
| Number of pages | 31 |
| Journal | Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease |
| Volume | 15 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 24 2020 |
Funding
The authors thank Jacqueline Schaffer for the numerous illustrations, and Drs. Guang-Yu Yang and Yi-Hua Chen (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine), Irina Maric (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health), Stefania Pittaluga (Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health), and Kyle Amber (College of Medicine, University of Illinois) for providing photomicrographs. The writing of this review was supported in part by funds from the Division of Intramural Research,National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,National Institutes of Health (to A.D.K.); grants from the US Food and Drug Administration (R01FD004086) and the End Allergies Together Foundation (to S.J.A.); and grants AI072265, AI105839, and AI136443 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (to B.S.B.).
Keywords
- eosinophil, hematopoiesis, cytokines, phenotype, function, eosinophil-related diseases, hypereosinophilic syndrome, biomarkers, biologic agents, treatments
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine
