Gleich's syndrome
Gleich's syndrome is a rare disease in which the body swells up episodically, associated with raised antibodies of the IgM type and increased numbers of eosinophil granulocytes, a type of white blood cells, in the blood. It was first described in 1984.
Its cause is unknown, but it is unrelated to capillary leak syndrome and eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. Some studies have shown that edema attacks are associated with degranulation, and others have demonstrated antibodies against endothelium in the condition.
Gleich's syndrome is not a form of the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome in that there is little or no evidence that it leads to organ damage. Rather, recent studies report that a subset of T cells found in several Gleich syndrome patients have an abnormal immunophenotype, i.e. they express CD3-, CD4+ cluster of differentiation cell surface antigens. These same aberrant T cell immunophenotypes are found in lymphocyte-variant eosinophilia, a disease in which the aberrant T cells overproduce cytokines such as interleukin 5 which simulate the proliferation of eosinophil precursor cells and are thereby responsible for the eosinophilia. It is suggested that most forms of Gleich's syndrome are due to a similar aberrant T cell mechanism and are a subtype of lymphocyte-variant eosinophilia.
Gleich syndrome has a good prognosis. Attack severity may improve with steroid treatment.
