eosinophil

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1. a polymorphonuclear leukocyte, present in blood and other connective tissues, that has numerous large cytoplasmic granules that stain readily with eosin. The granules contain numerous hydrolytic enzymes including acid phosphatase, arylsulfatase, cathepsins, glucuronidase, peroxidase, and ribonuclease. The relative number of eosinophils in the blood, normally low, rises markedly in certain allergic conditions and parasitic infections but their function is poorly understood.
2. any cell whose cytoplasm stains readily with eosin, especially an eosinophilic cell of the anterior pituitary that secretes prolactin and somatotropin.

An element readily stained by eosin; specifically, a granular leukocyte with a nucleus that usually has two lobes connected by a thread of chromatin, and cytoplasm containing coarse, round or rod-shaped, eosinophilic granules (lysosomes) of uniform size.

An eosinophil; a leukocyte that has coarse granules stainable with eosin and a bilobed nucleus.

• Cell Structure and Function - eosinophil: leukocyte involved with allergic responses and destruction of parasitic worms

A basophil granulocyte is surrounded by lightly staining eosinophilic erythrocytes in an H&E staining.

Main article: Eosin

Eosinophilic (Greek suffix -phil-, meaning loves eosin) refers to the staining of certain tissues, cells, or organelles after they have been washed with eosin, a dye.

Eosin is an acidic dye; thus, the structure being stained is basic.

Eosinophilic describes the appearance of cells and structures seen in histological sections that take up the staining dye eosin. This is a bright-pink dye that stains the cytoplasm of cells, as well as extracellular proteins such as collagen.^[1]

Such eosinophilic structures are, in general, composed of protein.

The stain eosin is usually combined with a stain called hematoxylin to produce a hematoxylin and eosin-stained section (also called an H&E stain, HE or H+E section). This is the most widely-used histological stain in medical diagnosis; for example, when a pathologist examines a biopsy of a suspected cancer, the biopsy will have been stained with H&E.

Some structures seen inside cells are described as being eosinophilic, for example, Lewy bodies, Mallory bodies.^[2]

See also

• basophilic (affinity to hematoxylln)
• Eosinophilia
• Eosinophilic Meningitis

References

1. ^ About Eosinophilic Disorders. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Accessed March 2nd, 2012
2. ^ Eosinophilic. Medline Plus. Accessed March 2nd, 2012.

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