The role of adhesion molecules in human eosinophil and basophil recruitment

Eosinophils and basophils accumulate in tissues during certain inflammatory processes, such as hypersensitivity diseases and experimental allergic late-phase responses in the nose, skin, or lungs.1" 2 However, the exact role of eosinophils and basophils in the pathophysiology of chronic allergic diseases remains incompletely defined.Eosinophil-and basophil-derived mediators can be identified during these inflammatory responses; many of these substances have been shown to induce or influence the pathophysiologic features of allergic disorders.The fact that levels of these cells and their mediators are reduced during resolution of allergic reactions further supports the hypothesis that eosinophils and basophils play a critical role in allergic diseases.Because these cells are preferentially attracted to extravascular inflammatory sites, mechanisms that favor their recruitment into the affected tissues must e x i s t .24In 1889, Julius Cohnheim, a former student of the pathologist Rudolph Virchow, published his landmark pathology textbook in which he carefully described all of the pathophysiologic features of inflammation, including leukocyte emigration into tissues?He noted that the vascular endothelium adjacent to the site of inflammation, From the Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Immunology