THE EFFECTS OF STRESS, ADRENAL AND ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIC HORMONES ON THE CIRCULATING EOSINOPHILS OF MICE¹

Abstract

The eosinophil cell of the blood was first described over 100 years ago (Wharton Jones, 1846), and since then has been the subject of many morphological, cytological, and physiological investigations. However, despite the vast array of publications and reviews, the actual function of this cell in health or disease still eludes the investigator (Kirk, 1942; Bethell, Sturgis, Rundles and Meyers, 1946). A number of comprehensive studies have been made during the last 17 years but most of the investigations were carried out either in man or the guinea pig. Work in other animals seems to have been chiefly of a tabulative and descriptive nature (Scarborough, 1930). In man, an increase in the number of circulating eosinophils has been correlated with allergy, parasitic infection, skin diseases, and a number of other disorders. In the guinea pig the eosinophils are associated with foreign protein reactions such as anaphylaxis and immunity. (For extensive references and reviews see: Schwarz, 1914; Ringeon, 1938; Rud, 1947; and Samter, 1949.)