Basophils, eosinophils, and mast cells in atopic and nonatopic asthma and in late-phase allergic reactions in the lung and skin,☆☆,

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Abstract

Background: Previous studies used indirect methods to identify basophils in the bronchi in asthma, and the numbers were not compared with eosinophils and mast cells. Furthermore, differences in basophil numbers between atopic and nonatopic asthma at baseline and between late-phase skin and asthmatic reactions have not been previously documented. Objective: The basophil granule–specific mAb BB1 was used to identify basophils in (1) bronchial biopsy specimens from atopic asthmatic subjects and nonatopic asthmatic subjects and control subjects, (2) biopsy specimens from atopic asthmatic subjects before and after inhalational allergen challenge, and (3) late-phase skin reactions. Basophil numbers were compared with EG2+ eosinophils and tryptase+ mast cells. Methods: Cells were enumerated in bronchial and skin biopsy specimens by means of immunohistochemistry with the alkaline phosphatase-antialkaline phosphatase method. Results: There were elevated numbers of basophils in baseline biopsy specimens in atopic asthmatic subjects compared with atopic control subjects or normal control subjects, although eosinophils and mast cells were 10-fold higher. There was an intermediate number of basophils in nonatopic asthmatic subjects. Basophils increased after allergen inhalation, but again basophils were less than 10% of eosinophils. In contrast, basophils in cutaneous late-phase reactions were approximately 40% of infiltrating eosinophils. The peak of basophil accumulation was at 24 hours, whereas maximal eosinophil infiltration occurred at 6 hours. One third of cutaneous basophils had morphologic appearances suggestive of degranulation. Conclusion: Numerous basophils infiltrated cutaneous late-phase reactions in atopic subjects. However, this cell was not prominent in bronchial biopsy specimens of asthmatic subjects, either at baseline or after allergen challenge. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2000;105:99-107.)

Section snippets

METHODS

Subjects were recruited from the Allergy Clinic, Royal Brompton Hospital, and the London Chest Hospital. The ethics committee at each center approved the study, and all patients gave written consent. All patients were nonsmokers, with no other intercurrent illness. Asthmatic patients were stable at the time of recruitment with an FEV1 greater than 70% of predicted value at each clinic visit. No patient had been treated with inhaled, nasal, or oral corticosteroids for at least 3 months before

Flow cytometry

Analysis of staining on permeabilized peripheral blood leukocytes by flow cytometry confirmed that BB1 was specific for basophils. There was negligible SMFs with eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes (n = 8) stained with BB1 (Table I). In contrast, the total basophil population was BB1+ because there was a significant shift in the fluorescence of the whole population of basophils (Fig 1).

. Representative flow cytometry profiles of peripheral blood basophils and purified peripheral

DISCUSSION

The novel findings in this study are (1) the identification of basophils in bronchial biopsy specimens from atopic and nonatopic asthmatic subjects by using a basophil-specific mAb; (2) the observations that there were approximately 10 times fewer basophils in the biopsy specimens from late-phase asthmatic, as compared with late-phase skin, reactions; (3) that the numbers of eosinophils and mast cells were 10 times higher than basophils in asthma biopsy specimens; and (4) the numbers of

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Philip W. Askenase, Yale University, for his critical review of the manuscript.

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    Supported by a grant from the National Asthma Campaign (UK) and funding from Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, UK.

    ☆☆

    Reprint requests: A. Barry Kay, MD, Professor and Head, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Imperial College School of Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Dovehouse St, London SW3 6LY, UK.

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