Eosinophil peroxidase: a new serum marker of atopy and bronchial hyper-responsiveness

AbstractDo markers of eosinophil activation differ in their ability to detect subjects with atopy or bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR)? Comparisons of serum levels of eosinophil peroxidase (S-EPO), of eosinophil cationic protein (S-ECP) and the blood eosinophil count (B-Eos) have been made between 154 subjects aged 20–44 years, participating in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey in Uppsala, Sweden.Subjects with atopy had significantly higher levels of S-EPO and S-ECP than those without atopy (P<0·001). Subjects with BHR had significantly higher levels of S-EPO (P<0·001) and B-Eos (P<0·01) than subjects without BHR. Persons reporting asthma-related symptoms had significantly higher levels of S-EPO and B-Eos than subjects without such symptoms (P<0·001 and P<0·01, respectively). Asthma symptom score correlated significantly to S-EPO (r=0·26, P<0·01), S-ECP (r=0·20, P<0·05) and B-Eos (r=0·18, P<0·05). Finally, S-EPO was significantly more sensitive than S-ECP for detecting subjects with BHR (P<0·05) and significantly more sensitive than B-Eos for detecting both subjects with BHR and subjects with a combination of atopy and BHR (P