Eosinophils in Health and Disease

Dr. Michael Wechsler, a Professor of Medicine from National Jewish Health in Denver, CO, shares his article appearing in the October 2021 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, where he explains recent discoveries about cells called eosinophils that play diverse roles in human health and disease. These cells are involved in combating some parasitic, bacterial, and viral infections and certain cancers, and have pathological roles in diseases including asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders, and hypereosinophilic syndromes. Dr. Wechsler shares that treatment of eosinophilic diseases has traditionally been via nonspecific eosinophil attenuation using glucocorticoids and that several novel biologic therapies targeting eosinophil maturation factors such as interleukin (IL)-5 and the IL-5 receptor, or IL-4/IL-13, have recently been approved for clinical use. Available at: mayocl.in/3iFE24V