Figure 3

Acute Lung Injury patients display quantitatively different levels of eosinophil degranulation that may occur even in the absence of intact infiltrating eosinophils. Representative photomicrographs of the five described levels of eosinophil degranulation within biopsies from ALI patients. Level 0: No evidence of eosinophil degranulation. Level 1a: Nominal levels of eosinophil degranulation representing <3 areas of granule protein release that is <10% of the field of view. Level 1b: Slightly elevated level of eosinophil degranulation representing ≥3 areas of granule protein release that again is <10% of the field of view. Level 2a: Significant level of eosinophil degranulation that includes 10-50% of the field of view. Level 2b: Significant level of eosinophil degranulation that includes extracellular release of EPX, enucleated eosinophils (i.e., cytoplasmic fragments), and/or the presence of free granules (i.e., EPX-containing secondary granules not associated with fragmented eosinophils). The extent of degranulation represents >50% of the field's total area. Scale bar = 50 μm.