Interleukin-5 messenger RNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with bronchial asthma and eosinophilia.

Interleukin-5 (IL-5) plays an important role in allergic diseases accompanied by eosinophilia. We examined IL-5 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from 13 patients with bronchial asthma, 1 patient with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia, 2 patients with idiopathic eosinophilia, and 5 control subjects. IL-5 mRNA was expressed in PBMC from 2 of 13 patients with asthma, 1 patient with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia, and 1 of 2 patients with idiopathic eosinophilia.