First my wife is in Treatment by an Immunologist and I am using this
question here sort of as a 2nd opinion. She noticed that she has some
health issues that could be related to an immune problem. She has done
an AIDS test, result negative.

1) when it is cold, and she doesn't wear gloves her fingers turn
really white (like there is no blood flowing throught the skin) -
which is an unusual reaction.
2) She has all kinds of skin issues, such as when she gets a cut or
some small injury, her skin tends to take a lot longer to heal, or
small things tend to last longer, or grow larger, sometimes she gets
rashes.
3) She has a certain type of mold in her nail bed, which toe which
causes her great pain in her toe. This is apparently really uncommon.
Her immunologist made her take a blood test, and the result showed a
Eosinophils (ABS Value) of 0.0 - the suggested range of this value
should be between 0.15 and 0.5. Thous/mcL

My question now is, what could be wrong? Or what diagnosis would you
suggest based on the information provided? what ilnesses cause an
Eosinophils of 0.0.

The other values of the blood test are all within the suggested range.

---

Clarification of Question by bnc_user-ga on 06 Nov 2003 14:10 PST

oh... I prefer an answer that compiles the information that you were
able to find, compared to just a collection of links where I have to
find the information myself.

The medical term for a low level of eosinophils in the peripheral
bloodstream is eosinopenia (or hypoeosinophilia). I've gathered some
information for you that should provide some insight into your wife's
condition. Please keep in mind that Google Answers is not a source of
authoritative medical advice; the material presented here is for
informational purposes, and should not be viewed as a diagnosis nor as
a substitute for the services of a qualified medical professional.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
                         WHAT ARE EOSINOPHILS?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

An eosinophil (also called an eosinocyte, eosinophilic leukocyte,
acidophilic leukocyte, eosinophile, oxyphile, oxyphilic leukocyte, or
oxyphil) is a specific kind of white blood cell. Typically,
eosinophils are approximately 1% to 4% of the total white blood cell
population.

"An eosinophil is a type of white blood cell. Eosinophils are produced
in the bone marrow and are normally found in the bloodstream and the
gut lining."

NetDoctor: Eosinophilia
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/eosinophilia.htm

"Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell formed from committed stem
cells in the bone marrow... Eosinophils constitute 1 - 3 % of the
white blood cells of the body. There is a diurnal variation of blood
eosinophil counts, with the highest counts occurring at night. The
blood eosinophil count is higher in children less than ten years of
age than it is in older persons."

Solgar International: Questions and Answers about 5-HTP Issue
http://www.solgar.com/qanda.html

"The eosinophil is a type of white blood cell first recognized by Paul
Ehrlich approximately 125 years ago. Most of our current knowledge
about this type cell came during the latter half of the twentieth
century (during the early 1950's the eosinophil was wrongly believed
to be a precursor of red blood cells)...

Eosinophils are a normal cellular component of the blood and also of
certain tissues, including spleen, lymph nodes, thymus and the
submucosal areas of the gastrointestinal, respiratory and
genitourinary tracts. Numbers between 0 to 450 eosinophils per cubic
millimeter of blood are reported as within normal limits...

Eosinophils are multifunctional proinflammatory white blood cells
implicated in numerous inflammatory processes, especially allergic
disorders; in addition, it has been recently recognized that
eosinophils may have a physiological role in organ formation (e. g.
postgestational mammary gland development). The functions of the
eosinophil are varied, some very similar to other white cells. Known
eosinophil functions include movement to inflamed areas, trapping
substances, killing cells, antiparasitic and bactericidal activity,
participant in immediate allergic reactions and modulator of
inflammatory responses."

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center: Frequent Questions
http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/svc/prog/eosinophilic/faq/two.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------------
                WHAT CAN A LOW EOSINOPHIL LEVEL MEAN?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Eosinopenia, or a low eosinophil level, does not, in and of itself,
represent a cause for alarm. Some people with extremely low eosinophil
levels lead quite normal lives. However, eosinopenia may indicate the
presence of infection or an inflammatory process in the body. Your
wife's immunologist will be looking for other signs and symptoms that
will help him or her to determine the cause. Among the diagnoses that
can be associated with eosinopenia are Cushing's Disease (also known
as adrenal cortical hyperplasia or hyperadrenocorticism), certain
types of tumors which secrete hormones, inflammatory and rheumatic
conditions, reactions to certain drugs, and various types of viral and
bacterial infections. As is the case with many other medical symptoms,
the differential diagnosis procedure can be tedious and
time-consuming, since the field of possibilities is quite broad.

"A low eosinophil level is usually not a cause for concern and is
actually quite common. Eosinophils can be too low due to
administration of steroids. Steroids are any of a large number of
hormone substances with a similar and basic chemical structure.
Hormones are natural chemicals produced by the body and released into
the blood that have a specific effect on tissues in the body."

MedFriendly: Eosinophil 
http://www.medfriendly.com/eosinophil.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Decreased eosinophils occurs in adrenal cortical hyperplasia (Cushing
syndrome), cortisone therapy, hormone-secreting tumors, intermenstrual
period, acute and chronic inflammation, and anoxia."

Laboratory Corporation of America: Eosinophil Count
http://www.labcorp.com/datasets/labcorp/html/chapter/mono/he001900.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"A low number of eosinophils in the blood (eosinopenia) can occur with
Cushing's syndrome and stress reactions but does not usually cause
problems because other parts of the immune system compensate
adequately."

Merck Manual: Eosinophilic Disorders
http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual_home2/sec14/ch174/ch174g.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"The value of eosinopenia as a test in favour of an infectious disease
was suggested by Schilling since 1929. We tried to verify this
hypothesis with a prospective and multicentric study... When
leukocytes were higher than 10,000/mm3 and eosinophils counts less
than 40/mm3, predictive value for an infectious bacterial disease was
100% as well as specificity. Under same conditions, when protein C
reactive was higher than 100mg x l(-1), the predictive value was 85%
and the specificity was 57%. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that an
inflammatory syndrome associated with hyperleucocytosis above
10,000/mm3 and eosinophils counts under 40/mm3 seems strongly related
to bacterial infectious diseases."

PubMed: Value of eosinopenia in inflammatory disorders
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12829215&dopt=Abstract

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Eosinopenia is seen in the early phase of acute insults, such as
shock, major pyogenic infections, trauma, surgery, etc. Drugs
producing eosinopenia include corticosteroids, epinephrine,
methysergide, niacin, niacinamide, and procainamide."

Hepatitis C Vets: Granulocytes
http://hepcvets.com/glossary/G.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Normal Values, Eosinophils:

 Mean percent: 2.7%
 Cell count (range): 0-450/µl

Decrease in Eosinophils:

 1. Allergies
 2. Infection
 3. Shock
 4. Postoperative response"

eCureMe: White blood cell differential
http://www.ecureme.com/emyhealth/data/White_blood_cell_differential.asp

----------------------------------------------------------------------

You may be wondering about Cushing's Syndrome and Cushing's Disease,
mentioned above. For an in-depth understanding of this condition, I
recommend that you read this page in its entirety (for reasons of
copyright, I cannot post the entire content of this webpage here):

Cushings Help
http://www.cushings-help.com/cushings-whatis.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Search strategy:

Google Web Search: "low" + "eosinophil"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22low+eosinophil

Google Web Search: "decreased" + "eosinophil"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22decreased+eosinophil

Google Web Search: "eosinophilic disorders"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22eosinophilic+disorders

Google Web Search: "eosinopenia"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=eosinopenia

Google Web Search: "hypoeosinophilia"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=hypoeosinophilia

Google Web Search: "cushing syndrome" + "eosinophil"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22cushing+syndrome%22+eosinophil

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear, or if a link does not
function, please request clarification. I'll be glad to offer further
assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud