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When rodents are infected with the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, large numbers of eosinophils appear in their blood and lungs and their serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) is increased. Injection of a monoclonal antibody to interleukin-5 completely suppressed the blood eosinophilia and the infiltration of eosinophils in the lungs of parasitized mice but had no effect on serum IgE. In contrast, an antibody to interleukin-4 inhibited parasite-induced IgE but not the eosinophilia. These results show that interleukin-5 is important in eosinophil production in vivo and that IgE and eosinophil production are regulated by different cytokines produced by the TH2 subset of CD4-expressing T cells.
Coffman et al. (Fri,) studied this question.