Helminthotoxic capacity of eosinophils in case of eosinophilia.

Helminthotoxic effect of eosinophils on schistosomula of S. mansoni was studied in thirty patients with peripheral eosinophilia of different causes. Ten cases presented with parasitic infections and twenty cases were parasite free. Twenty healthy persons with normal blood picture were tested as a control group. The adherence assay test of eosinophils and the assay of cell mediated damage of eosinophils to schistosomula were used. The percentages of the adherence and the toxic effect of eosinophils were the same for each group. They were 85.1% in the parasitic group, 85.45% in the non parasitic with other causes group and 13.9% in the control group. The difference was statistically highly significant (P less than 0.001).