Several lines of evidence suggest that the chemokine RANTES may play a role in
eosinophilia observed during allergic inflammation. To test this hypothesis, six patients with
allergic asthma were studied. After performing bronchoalveolar lavage in a lung segment
(baseline), segmental bronchoprovocation was performed with saline solution in another
segment and with ragweed in a third segment. Bronchoalveolar lavage was performed 24
hours later in the saline-challenged (sham) and ragweed-challenged lung segments. The …