Eosinophils as mediators of antibody-dependent damage to schistosomula

WE have reported previously1 that damage to schistosomula can be assayed by measuring release of 51Cr from labelled larvae. Using this technique, we have shown that schistosomula can be damaged by a combination of normal human peripheral blood leukocytes and of heat-inactivated sera from patients infected with Schistosoma mansoni1. We now present evidence that the eosinophil is substantially the most active mediator of damage in normal peripheral blood, but that cells from eosinophilic patients are relatively inactive. © 1975 Nature Publishing Group.