ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chemokines are effective leukocyte chemoattractants and may play an important role in mediating eosinophil recruitment in various allergic conditions in human. Eotaxin is an eosinophil-specific chemokine associated with the recruitment of eosinophils to the site of allergic inflammation. However, it is not yet known as to whether or not RANTES is associated with selective tissue eosinophilia. The aim of this study is to understand the events involved in selective eosinophil migration into inflammatory sites. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed the quantitative analysis of RANTES and eotaxin mRNA expression levels in TDI-induced nasal hyper-reactive rats. Expression levels of RANTES and eotaxin mRNA from inferior turbinate mucosa were examined using competitive PCR in 35 experimental rats and 5 control rats compared with infiltrated eosinophil counts. RESULTS: The quantity of RANTES mRNA increased 3 folds 2 day after provocation, and the infiltrating eosinophils were correlated with the expression levels of RANTES mRNA (p<0.01). The quantity of eotaxin mRNA increased 15 folds 1 day after provocation. These results suggest that RANTES and eotaxin play a role in controlling antigen-induced eosinophil recruitment into the tissue. Eotaxin is a more potent and selective chemoattractant for eosinophils than infiltrating eosinophils, and were correlated with the expression levels of eotaxin mRNA (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Further investigations for chemokine receptor related to eosinophils will provide better understanding of the mechanism involved in selective tissue eosinophilia.