Stored whole blood, plasma-reduced whole blood, and saline-adenine-glucose-mannitol blood may release white cell- and platelet-derived bioactive substances in a time-dependent manner, which may be related to the detrimental effects of perioperative blood transfusions. Therefore, prestorage white cell reduction should be considered for further improvement of red cell suspensions.

Overall peritumoural inflammatory cell infiltration is a prognostic variable in solid tumours, but the survival‐related impact of the individual cell types within the infiltrate has still not been fully evaluated and compared with the conventional disease classification. In the present study, the prognostic value of individual white cell counts in the peritumoural inflammatory infiltrate in colorectal cancer was assessed. Intra‐operative tumour tissue samples from 584 patients undergoing elective surgery for colorectal cancer were included. None of the patients received pre‐ or post‐operative adjuvant chemotherapy. Tissue blocks were cut from the periphery of the tumours and embedded in paraffin. All blocks included both tumour tissue and normal bowel tissue. Serial sections of 4 µm were analysed for tumour tissue inflammatory cell infiltration using a computer‐ and video‐assisted microscope, which allowed semi‐automated quantification of cells within a fixed area. Total white cells and individual counts of eosinophils, neutrophils, mast cells, lymphocytes, and plasma cells were evaluated in every tumour specimen. Stratification into four groups with similar numbers of events was used to dichotomize the cell counts with respect to survival. The median observation period was 61 (49–75) months. In a multivariate analysis including Dukes' stage, gender, age, peri‐operative blood transfusion, tumour location, and counts of specific inflammatory cells, only advanced Dukes' stage ( p< 0·0001), high age ( p=0·0003), and tumour location in the rectum predicted poor survival, while high counts of eosinophils ( p=0·006) and mast cells ( p=0·02) predicted good survival. Tumour‐associated eosinophilia and mastocytosis appear to be independent prognostic variables in colorectal cancer. Future studies should investigate the potential biological role of tumour tissue eosinophils and mast cells in the modulation of tumour growth. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

CXC chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3), predominately expressed on memory/activated T lymphocytes, is a receptor for both IFN-γ-inducible protein-10 (γ IP-10) and monokine induced by IFN-γ (Mig). We report a novel finding that CXCR3 is also expressed on eosinophils. γ IP-10 and Mig induce eosinophil chemotaxis via CXCR3, as documented by the fact that anti-CXCR3 mAb blocks γ IP-10- and Mig-induced eosinophil chemotaxis. γ IP-10- and Mig-induced eosinophil chemotaxis are up- and down-regulated by IL-2 and IL-10, respectively. Correspondingly, CXCR3 protein and mRNA expressions in eosinophils are up- and down-regulated by IL-2 and IL-10, respectively, as detected using flow cytometry, immunocytochemical assay, and a real-time quantitative RT-PCR technique. γ IP-10 and Mig act eosinophils to induce chemotaxis via the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A signaling pathways. The fact that γ IP-10 and Mig induce an increase in intracellular calcium in eosinophils confirms that CXCR3 exists on eosinophils. Besides induction to chemotaxis, γ IP-10 and Mig also activate eosinophils to eosinophil cationic protein release. These results indicate that CXCR3-γ IP-10 and -Mig receptor-ligand pairs as well as the effects of IL-2 and IL-10 on them may be especially important in the cytokine/chemokine environment for the pathophysiologic events of allergic inflammation, including initiation, progression, and termination in the processes.

In this study, we investigated the seminal inflammatory response to egg infestation of the urogenital organs in 240 semen-donating men aged 15-49 years living in a Schistosoma haematobium-endemic area of Madagascar. In 29 subjects (12%) with excretion of > or =5 ova/ejaculate, leukocytospermia (>10(6) leukocytes/mL) and the presence of seminal lymphocytes and eosinophil leukocytes were each significantly more prevalent than in 74 subjects (31%) who were S. haematobium negative (P<.01). In addition, seminal levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor- alpha were significantly higher among seminal egg-excreting subjects than among infection-negative subjects (P<.001). Sexually transmitted infection (STI) with Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium, and/or Trichomonas vaginalis did not act as a confounding factor for the observed associations. At follow-up, 6 months after systematic antischistosomiasis and STI syndrome treatment at baseline, the prevalence of seminal leukocytes decreased significantly among the previously seminal egg-positive subjects. The same tendency was observed for the posttreatment levels of cytokines. Numerous studies have already shown an association between STI-associated genital inflammation and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) propagation. Therefore, the results of the present study suggest that male urogenital schistosomiasis may constitute a risk factor for HIV transmission, as a result of egg-induced inflammation in the semen-producing pelvic organs.

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