Blood eosinophil count in the general population: typical values and potential confounders

S. Hartl; M.K. Breyer; O.C. Burghuber; A. Ofenheimer; A. Schrott; M.H. Urban; A. Agusti; M. Studnicka; E.F.M. Wouters; R. Breyer-Kohansal

doi:10.1183/13993003.01874-2019

Blood eosinophil count in the general population: typical values and potential confounders

S. Hartl^*, M.K. Breyer, O.C. Burghuber, A. Ofenheimer, A. Schrott, M.H. Urban, A. Agusti, M. Studnicka, E.F.M. Wouters, R. Breyer-Kohansal

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

48 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

There is growing interest in blood eosinophil counts in the management of chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Despite this, typical blood eosinophil levels in the general population, and the impact of potential confounders on these levels have not been clearly defined.

We measured blood eosinophil counts in a random sample of 11 042 subjects recruited from the general population in Austria. We then: 1) identified factors associated with high blood eosinophil counts (>75th percentile); and 2) excluded subjects with these factors to estimate median blood eosinophil counts in a "healthy" sub-population (n=3641).

We found that: 1) in the entire cohort, age

Median blood eosinophil counts in adults are considerably lower than those currently regarded as normal, do not change with age beyond puberty, but are significantly influenced by a variety of factors which have an additive effect. These observations will contribute to the interpretation of blood eosinophil levels in clinical practice.

Original language	English
Article number	1901874
Number of pages	10
Journal	European Respiratory Journal
Volume	55
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.01874-2019
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2020

Keywords

age
airway inflammation
exacerbations
obstructive pulmonary-disease
spirometry
spiromics
systemic inflammation
AIRWAY INFLAMMATION
SPIROMETRY
SPIROMICS
SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION
OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY-DISEASE
EXACERBATIONS
AGE

Access to Document

10.1183/13993003.01874-2019

Cite this

@article{7fa20e04631f4f3dbbfd8ccf8dff19ab,

title = "Blood eosinophil count in the general population: typical values and potential confounders",

abstract = "There is growing interest in blood eosinophil counts in the management of chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Despite this, typical blood eosinophil levels in the general population, and the impact of potential confounders on these levels have not been clearly defined.We measured blood eosinophil counts in a random sample of 11 042 subjects recruited from the general population in Austria. We then: 1) identified factors associated with high blood eosinophil counts (>75th percentile); and 2) excluded subjects with these factors to estimate median blood eosinophil counts in a {"}healthy{"} sub-population (n=3641).We found that: 1) in the entire cohort, ageMedian blood eosinophil counts in adults are considerably lower than those currently regarded as normal, do not change with age beyond puberty, but are significantly influenced by a variety of factors which have an additive effect. These observations will contribute to the interpretation of blood eosinophil levels in clinical practice.",

keywords = "age, airway inflammation, exacerbations, obstructive pulmonary-disease, spirometry, spiromics, systemic inflammation, AIRWAY INFLAMMATION, SPIROMETRY, SPIROMICS, SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION, OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY-DISEASE, EXACERBATIONS, AGE",

author = "S. Hartl and M.K. Breyer and O.C. Burghuber and A. Ofenheimer and A. Schrott and M.H. Urban and A. Agusti and M. Studnicka and E.F.M. Wouters and R. Breyer-Kohansal",

year = "2020",

month = may,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1183/13993003.01874-2019",

language = "English",

volume = "55",

journal = "European Respiratory Journal",

issn = "0903-1936",

publisher = "European Respiratory Society",

number = "5",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Blood eosinophil count in the general population: typical values and potential confounders

AU - Hartl, S.

AU - Breyer, M.K.

AU - Burghuber, O.C.

AU - Ofenheimer, A.

AU - Schrott, A.

AU - Urban, M.H.

AU - Agusti, A.

AU - Studnicka, M.

AU - Wouters, E.F.M.

AU - Breyer-Kohansal, R.

PY - 2020/5/1

Y1 - 2020/5/1

N2 - There is growing interest in blood eosinophil counts in the management of chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Despite this, typical blood eosinophil levels in the general population, and the impact of potential confounders on these levels have not been clearly defined.We measured blood eosinophil counts in a random sample of 11 042 subjects recruited from the general population in Austria. We then: 1) identified factors associated with high blood eosinophil counts (>75th percentile); and 2) excluded subjects with these factors to estimate median blood eosinophil counts in a "healthy" sub-population (n=3641).We found that: 1) in the entire cohort, ageMedian blood eosinophil counts in adults are considerably lower than those currently regarded as normal, do not change with age beyond puberty, but are significantly influenced by a variety of factors which have an additive effect. These observations will contribute to the interpretation of blood eosinophil levels in clinical practice.

AB - There is growing interest in blood eosinophil counts in the management of chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Despite this, typical blood eosinophil levels in the general population, and the impact of potential confounders on these levels have not been clearly defined.We measured blood eosinophil counts in a random sample of 11 042 subjects recruited from the general population in Austria. We then: 1) identified factors associated with high blood eosinophil counts (>75th percentile); and 2) excluded subjects with these factors to estimate median blood eosinophil counts in a "healthy" sub-population (n=3641).We found that: 1) in the entire cohort, ageMedian blood eosinophil counts in adults are considerably lower than those currently regarded as normal, do not change with age beyond puberty, but are significantly influenced by a variety of factors which have an additive effect. These observations will contribute to the interpretation of blood eosinophil levels in clinical practice.

KW - age

KW - airway inflammation

KW - exacerbations

KW - obstructive pulmonary-disease

KW - spirometry

KW - spiromics

KW - systemic inflammation

KW - AIRWAY INFLAMMATION

KW - SPIROMETRY

KW - SPIROMICS

KW - SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION

KW - OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY-DISEASE

KW - EXACERBATIONS

KW - AGE

U2 - 10.1183/13993003.01874-2019

DO - 10.1183/13993003.01874-2019

M3 - Article

C2 - 32060069

SN - 0903-1936

VL - 55

JO - European Respiratory Journal

JF - European Respiratory Journal

IS - 5

M1 - 1901874

ER -