The objective of this controlled pilot study was to determine if mRNA coding for interleukin-5 (IL-5), a cytokine that promotes eosinophil differentiation, growth, and migration, could be detected in three T-cell lymphomas that were infiltrated extensively by eosinophils. To detect mRNA coding for IL-5, we performed an RNA polymerase chain reaction on mRNA extracted from three T-cell lymphomas with eosinophilia and from 29 positive and negative validation controls. Using this procedure, we detected a 293-base pair, IL-5-specific amplification product in the three cases of T-cell lymphoma with eosinophilia and in 11 of 12 positive validation controls, including 10 cases of Hodgkin's disease with eosinophilia. IL-5 mRNA was not detectable in the 17 negative validation controls. This preliminary study suggests that IL-5 mRNA is detectable by polymerase chain reaction in three cases of T-cell lymphoma with eosinophilia.

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Tissues containing Hodgkin's disease tumors of the nodular sclerosis and mixed cellularity subtypes are frequently infiltrated by numerous degranulating eosinophils that release granule proteins such as eosinophil peroxidase and major basic protein. Until recently, the causes of the eosinophil infiltration and degranulation in Hodgkin's disease tumors were unknown. Analysis of Hodgkin's disease tissues by a sensitive and specific immunoperoxidase technique has now demonstrated the extensive presence of IgE in the Reed-Sternberg cells and adjacent cells of Hodgkin's disease tumors. Because eosinophils express a cell-surface receptor (CD23) for IgE and degranulate in the presence of IgE deposits, the extensive eosinophilia that is frequently present in Hodgkin's disease tumors is, at least in part, attributable to the IgE deposits within the tumor. In this review, we discuss the possible mechanisms and biological significance of IgE-related eosinophilia in Hodgkin's disease.

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