Some cutaneous responses to mitogen injection in sheep, with special reference to eosinophil leucocytes.

Research in laboratory animals suggests that eosinophil numbers in some cutaneous reactions may reveal inherent differences in resistance to parasite infection. An intradermal injection with 10 microgram of the mitogen phytohaemagglutinin, followed by counting eosinophils in the deep dermis of skin biopsies removed 24 hours later, appears to be a practical and reproducible way of comparing the ability of individual sheep to marshal eosinophils in a tissue. This procedure will allow study of the relationship between eosinophil response and resistance to parasite infection in sheep.