Abstract: | Human blood eosinophils obtained from untreated patients with large numbers of circulating eosinophils were purified and lysed. An eosinophil contains 2.65 times as much peroxidase, 2.44 times as much beta-glucuronidase, approximately two times as much acid beta-glycerophosphatase, and 1.2 times as much protein as a neutrophil. Lysate filtration allowed isolation of eosinophil granules by isopycnic ultracentrifugation in sucrose. The granules had a mean density of rho 1.24 g/ml, and contained peroxidase, beta-glucuronidase, and acid beta-glycerophosphatase. They totally lacked muramidase and alkaline phosphatase. Electron micrography confirmed the isolation. |