Background: Eosinophils play an important role in allergic responses. Eotaxin is a CC chemokine that promotes the selective recruitment of eosinophils. This study was performed to investigate the significance of eotaxin in pediatric food allergies.
  Methods: The study population included 35 patients with food allergy, 18 patients with atopic dermatitis but without food allergy, and 19 age-matched non-allergic controls. Eotaxin-1 and eotaxin-3 levels in plasma were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Simultaneously, eosinophil counts in peripheral blood and serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) values were assessed.
  Results: Plasma eotaxin-1 levels were 93.6±33.4 pg/ml in patients with food allergy, 78.0±31.8 pg/ml in patients with atopic dermatitis, and 60.4±15.7 pg/ml in controls. Differences between the food allergy and control groups were significant (P<0.001). Circulating eosinophil counts in patients with food allergy were higher than those in controls (5.84±9.46×10⁹/l vs. 1.20±1.11×10⁹/l, P<0.001). Nevertheless, eotaxin-1 levels in children with food allergy were not correlated with eosinophil counts or serum IgE levels. There were no significant differences in eotaxin-3 levels between the 3 groups.
  Conclusion: Plasma levels of eotaxin-1 were elevated in children with food allergy. The pathophysiological relevance of the increase in eotaxin is discussed.