losartan-potassium and Eosinophilia

Topics: Anemia; Anemia, Macrocytic; Blood Platelets; Eosinophilia; Epoetin Alfa; Erythropoietin; Humans; Iron; Leukemia; Polycythemia Vera; Vitamin B 12

This report describes the response of 18 Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) patients to recombinant human interleukin 3 (rhIL-3). rhIL-3 was administered s.c. once daily on an escalating dose schedule (0.5-10 micrograms/kg/day). The rhIL-3 dose was escalated every 21 days until erythroid response was attained, grade III or IV nonhematologic toxicity was observed, or the maximal rhIL-3 dose was reached. Four patients experienced clinically significant erythroid responses. Two of the responders were steroid-dependent and transfusion-independent, while two were steroid-independent and transfusion-dependent. Baseline clinical or laboratory parameters, in particular in vitro bone marrow erythroid progenitor assays, were not useful in predicting rhIL-3 response. Two of the responding patients remain on maintenance rhIL-3 without diminution of effect at 490 and 855+ days. rhIL-3 was discontinued in the other two responders because of the development of deep venous thrombi.

Topics: Animals; Blood Cell Count; Child; Eosinophilia; Erythroid Precursor Cells; Erythropoiesis; Erythropoietin; Fanconi Anemia; Female; Hematopoietic Cell Growth Factors; Humans; Hypotension; Immunologic Factors; Interleukin-3; Male; Mice; Recombinant Proteins; Stem Cell Factor; Thrombophlebitis; Treatment Outcome

Topics: Drug Hypersensitivity; Eosinophilia; Epoetin Alfa; Erythema Multiforme; Erythropoietin; Exanthema; Fever; Hematinics; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Recombinant Proteins; Syndrome

In order to determine the factors responsible for eosinophilia during the neonatal period, we counted the eosinophils of premature infants every week and compared the medical profiles of infants with eosinophil counts above the 95th percentile and those below that percentile during the course of study. Medical treatments such as mechanical ventilation, antibiotics administration and intravenous catheterization had no significant effects on the increase of eosinophils. Furthermore, the incidence of eosinophil counts above the 95th percentile was not different between breast-fed and formula-fed infants. The infants treated with erythropoietin had greater eosinophil counts than those with no treatment. It is probable that medical manipulation using foreign bodies such as intratracheal tube, intravenous catheter, antibiotics and artificial formula had no significant effects on the increase of eosinophil counts, except for exogenous erythropoietin.

Topics: Disease Progression; Eosinophilia; Erythropoietin; Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Infant, Premature, Diseases; Intensive Care, Neonatal; Leukocyte Count; Male

We evaluated the levels of mRNAs encoding cationic proteins in peripheral blood eosinophils (PBE) purified from patients with eosinophilia and in eosinophils differentiated from cord blood cells (CBC) by culture with recombinant human interleukin-3 (rhIL-3), rhGM-CSF, and rhIL-5. Messenger RNAs encoding eosinophil peroxidase (EPO), major basic protein (MBP), eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN), and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) were detected by Northern blot hybridization with the respective specific oligonucleotide probes. In mature PBE, MBP mRNA appeared to be absent, whereas EPO mRNA was barely detectable in only 5 of the 19 patients. In contrast, EDN and ECP mRNAs were observed in the PBE of all patients. In CE, EPO, and MBP, mRNAs were abundant in immature eosinophils and their amounts decreased after differentiation toward eosinophils. ECP and EDN mRNAs followed the same patterns, but mRNAs were less abundant at all timepoints studied. Study of mRNA t1/2 during the time course of differentiation indicated that changes in the stability of the different mRNAs were not responsible for the variations observed in the steady-state levels. Together, these results suggest that regulation of expression differs among EPO, MBP, EDN, and ECP mRNAs during the time course of eosinophil differentiation.

Topics: Actins; Base Sequence; Blood Proteins; Blotting, Northern; Cell Differentiation; Cells, Cultured; Eosinophil Granule Proteins; Eosinophil Peroxidase; Eosinophil-Derived Neurotoxin; Eosinophilia; Eosinophils; Erythropoietin; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; Humans; Interleukin-3; Interleukin-5; Kinetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Neurotoxins; Oligonucleotide Probes; Peroxidases; Recombinant Proteins; Ribonucleases; RNA; RNA, Messenger; Time Factors

We studied ten patients with various types of cancer who were being treated with Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and lymphokine activated killer cells (LAK). All patients developed a reticulocytopenic, normochromic, normocytic anemia. We noted some variability but no significant suppression of circulating erythroid progenitors. The levels of erythropoietin were lower than expected for the hemoglobin/hematocrit values. We could not detect Interferon or Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) in the serum of these patients; however, the supernatant of LAK cells did contain Interferon and TNF which could be neutralized with appropriate antibodies. These results suggest that the etiology of this anemia is multi-factorial. Administration of recombinant erythropoietin (Ep) may be of benefit in some of these patients.

Topics: Anemia; Eosinophilia; Erythroid Precursor Cells; Erythropoiesis; Erythropoietin; Hematopoiesis; Humans; Immunotherapy; Interferon-gamma; Interleukin-2; Killer Cells, Natural; Leukocytosis; Neoplasms; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha