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. 2022 Jul 13;12(3):e25.
doi: 10.5415/apallergy.2022.12.e25. eCollection 2022 Jul.

Increase in eosinophil-derived neurotoxin level in school children with allergic disease

Chang-Keun Kim  1 , Dong Yoon Kang  2 , Zak Callaway  1   3 , Kyoung Soo Kim  4 , Eun Mi Kwon  1 , Fumiya Yamaide  5 , Taiji Nakano  5 , Yoichi Suzuki  6 , Yoichi Mashimo  6 , Akira Hata  6 , Yoshitaka Okamoto  7   8 , Naoki Shimojo  9
Affiliations

Increase in eosinophil-derived neurotoxin level in school children with allergic disease

Chang-Keun Kim et al. Asia Pac Allergy. .

Abstract

Background: Eosinophils are major effector cells of allergic disease and excellent markers of eosinophilic inflammation. Accurate and reliable biomarkers are helpful in the diagnosis, treatment, and control of allergic disease.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate an alternate marker of eosinophilic inflammation, eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN), in a number of allergic diseases.

Methods: Three hundred ninety-six elementary school-age children with various allergic conditions were recruited for this study. Subgroups included food allergies (FAs), atopic dermatitis (AD), bronchial asthma (BA), and allergic rhinitis (AR). EDN levels in these groups were compared to those in 93 healthy controls (HC).

Results: All subjects with allergic disease had elevated levels of serum EDN (median [interquartile range]: FA, 124.2 ng/mL [59.13-160.5 ng/mL]; AD, 110.8 ng/mL [57.52-167.9 ng/mL]; BA, 131.5 ng/mL [60.60-171.0 ng/mL]; AR, 91.32 ng/mL [46.16-145.0 ng/mL]) compared to HC (38.38 ng/mL [32.40-55.62 ng/mL]) (p < 0.0001). These elevated levels were consistent throughout the age range (6-12 years) of the healthy study subjects (p = 0.0679). EDN levels also correlated well with total immunoglobulin E (Rs = 0.5599, p < 0.0001). Looking at all individuals with an allergic disease, the area under the curve was 0.790.

Conclusions: Direct measures of eosinophilic inflammation are needed for accurate diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of allergic diseases. EDN may be a worthy biomarker of eosinophil activity and a useful screening tool for allergic diseases including FA, AD, BA, and AR.

Keywords: Allergic rhinitis; Atopic dermatitis; Biomarkers; Bronchial asthma; Eosinophil-derived neurotoxin; Food allergy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Serum eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) levels in each study subgroup. Healthy controls (HC) exhibited significantly lower levels (p < 0.0001) than all other subgroups with allergic disease: food allergy (FA), atopic dermatitis (AD), bronchial asthma (BA), and allergic rhinitis (AR).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) level according to age. No significant difference (p = 0.0679) in EDN level among all age groups.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Correlation between total immunoglobulin E (IgE) and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) level (Rs = 0.5599; p < 0.0001).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Area under the curve (AUC) for all subjects with allergic disease as one group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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