Circulating chemokine eotaxin and chemokine receptor CCR3 in allergic patients

Eotaxin is a chemokine with a selective eosinophil chemoattraction and its receptor is the chemokine receptor CCR3. The presence of CCR3 on Th2 lymphocytes is of particular interest. This work was performed to evaluate circulating level of chemokine eotaxin and CCR3 expression in allergic patients. It included 60 patients [23 (38.3%) with asthma, 20 (33.4%) with allergic rhinitis and 17 (28.3%) with skin allergy] and 12 controls. The level of plasma eotaxin & CCR3 expression on CD4+ T cells were determined by ELISA & flowcytometry respectively. Both plasma eotaxin level and expression of CCR3 on CD4+ T cells were higher in allergic patients than controls in different types of allergy. In conclusion, plasma eotaxin concentration is a candidate biological marker for the evaluation of allergic diseases.