Extramedullar proliferation of eosinophil granulocytes in chronic schistosomiasis mansoni is mediated by a factor secreted by inflammatory macrophages.

In chronic murine schistosomiasis mansoni, extramedullar myelopoiesis of eosinophils has been described, associated with tissue inflammatory infiltrates and periovular granulomas. It may be experimentally induced by intraperitoneal glass implants in mice with chronic schistosomiasis but not in normal mice or in mice with acute schistosomiasis. In vivo studies showed that this induction depended on macrophages adherent to the implants. In an in vitro test with bone marrow cells, we demonstrated that this eosinophil proliferation was mediated by a factor secreted by the mobilized macrophages. In contrast to murine interleukin-5 (IL-5), which induced both proliferation and differentiation of eosinophils, the studied monokine did not induce their maturation. A potent neutralizing monoclonal antibody for murine IL-5 did not abrogate the stimulatory activity of the monokine, indicating that it is a cytokine distinct from IL-5. These data, together with a quantitation of bone marrow, blood, and peripheral eosinophils, indicated that in chronic schistosomiasis, the systemic medullar supply of eosinophils is supplemented in tissues by their local proliferation, mediated by macrophages mobilized in local granulomatous and diffuse inflammatory reactions.