Sensitization of circulating basophils in guinea pig recipients of passive transfer of cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (CBH) with immune serum: antigen-specific histamine release in vitro

An in vitro histamine release assay was used to test the hypothesis that passive sensitization of circulating basophils is associated with the activity of immune serum that transfer the ability to elicit cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (CBH) reactions. Systemic i.v. transfer of several types of immune sera that mediate CBH also led to passive sensitization of circulating basophils for antigen-specific release of histamine in vitro. In addition, we found that immune serum passively sensitizes basophils in vitro. Thus immune sera had three activities that are probably interconnected: sera will 1) passively transfer CBH in vivo, 2) passively sensitize basophils in vivo, and 3) passively sensitize basophils in vitro. These results suggest that passive sensitization of circulating basophils by immune serum contributes to the mechanism by which antibodies transfer the ability to elicit CBH reactions.     

Involvement of host Fc receptors in antibody-mediated cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity reactions.

Cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (CBH) reactions are heterogeneous delayed time course basophil-rich responses that can be mediated by either T cells, B cells, or serum antibodies. The current study examined the mechanism by which antibodies mediate CBH in guinea pigs. Fc competition experiments were constructed by passively transferring mixtures of anti-KLH serum and normal heterologous gamma-globulins. It was found that rabbit IgG and its isolated and purified Fc fragment [but not the (Fab')2 fragment] inhibited the ability of guinea pig immune serum to transfer CBH. Concurrent inhibition of transferred KLH-specific CBH and systemic passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reactions by rabbit IgG or its Fc fragment, and not by sheep or bovine gamma-globulins, indicated that Fc receptors on cutaneous mast cells were probably involved in both CBH and PCA. It was also found that the basophil aspect of delayed cutaneous responses elicited by PHA was inhibited by Fc competition maneuvers. This could mean that some forms of apparently T cell-mediated CBH may be T cell dependent, but via secretion of molecules that bind to Fc receptors, as seems required in antibody-mediated CBH.     

A newly described activity of guinea pig IgG1 antibodies: transfer of cutaneous basophil reactions.

Hapten-specific delayed time course skin reactions containing predominant accumulations of basophils and eosinophils were elicited in newborn guinea pigs after i.v. transfer of small amounts of oxazolone immune serum. The immune serum was fractionated by column chromatography procedures, and the fractions were examined for their ability in transferring this form of cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (CBH). Only the 7S IgG-containing peak from Sephadex G-200 columns, and only the IgG1-containing fractions from DEAE columns, transferred CBH. An affinity column of bound oxazolone removed the activity from immune serum, and it could be recovered from the column by eluting with soluble oxazolone. About 35 microgram of purified IgG1 anti-oxazolone antibody could systemically transfer CBH reactivity. An immunoadsorbant column of anti-IgG1 removed this activity, but a column of anti-IgG2 did not. None of the procedures were able to separate activity in transferring CBH from passive cutaneous anaphylactic (PCA) activity classically associated with guinea pig IgG1 antibody. IgG1 from 8-day immune and 31-day hyperimmune donors were both effective. The average association constant of 8-day antibody was 8 X 10(-4) M-1. Transfer of cutaneous basophil reactions can be mediated by low affinity serum 7S IgG1 antibody.     

Rejection of ticks from guinea pigs by anti-hapten-antibody-mediated degranulation of basophils at cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity sites: role of mediators other than histamine

Previous studies have established that recruitment of basophils to sites of tick feeding in guinea pigs is required to effect immune resistance. In the current study, actively sensitized guinea pigs treated three times daily with H-1 (mepyramine) and H-2 (cimetidine) histamine receptor antagonists, during the challenge tick infestation period, expressed normal resistance to Amblyomma americanum larvae. Similarly, naive guinea pigs treated with anti-histamines four times daily, beginning 7 days before transfer of immune serum and tick challenge and continuing through the tick infestation period, also expressed normal antibody-mediated resistance to A. americanum. These results indicated that histamine was not an important basophil mediator of the resistance response. Ticks allowed to feed on tissue rich in basophils that were induced by sensitization and subsequent local challenge with non-tick protein antigen, keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), expressed normal yield. Ticks that fed on similar tissue rich in basophils induced by sensitization and challenge with KLH, in which the basophils expressed anti-picryl specificity due to systemic passive transfer of anti-picryl antibodies, were rejected when basophils were induced to degranulate by i.v. challenge with picryl antigen at 6 hr (29% rejection), 12 hr (18% rejection), 24 hr (22% rejection), and 48 hr (37% rejection) post-tick attachment. However, basophil degranulation at 18, 72 and 96 hr post-tick attachment had no adverse effect on tick feeding. These hosts were protected from systemic anaphylaxis by treatment with the anti-histamine mepyramine. Release of histamine occurred at tick feeding sites, but vasoactive effects were blocked by mepyramine treatment as evidenced by a lack of increased vascular permeability (bluing) at these sites compared with non-tick-infested tissues, or to cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (CBH) sites of animals not protected with mepyramine. These results indicate that local recruitment and subsequent degranulation of basophils via immune mechanisms dependent on non-tick antigens can lead to tick rejection, and that basophil-derived mediators other than histamine are involved in this immune resistance response to A. americanum ticks. The identity of the crucial basophil mediator(s) is not known. The significant susceptibility of ticks to basophil-mediator release at 6 to 12 hr and 24 to 48 hr post-attachment coincides with the tick attaching and fast-feeding phases, respectively, suggesting that these phases of tick parasitism are particularly susceptible to the effect of basophil mediators other than histamine.     

Anti-T cell monoclonal antibodies in vivo. I. Inhibition of delayed hypersensitivity but not cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity reactions

As part of a study of the therapeutic potential of anti-T cell monoclonal antibodies, we studied the biologic effects of 8BE6, a mouse anti-guinea pig (GP) pan-T cell monoclonal antibody, on blood and tissue T cells and on the prototypic T cell-mediated reactions, classic delayed hypersensitivity (DH) and cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (CBH). 8BE6 reacts to a 68,000 m.w. protein probably homologous with human CD5 (T1) and murine Lyt-1. A single dose of 1.8 to 3.4 mg 8BE6 caused lymphopenia and greater than 90% depletion of 8BE6+ peripheral T cells 1 to 72 hr later, and a significant but lesser decrease of lymphocytes reacting with another pan-T cell monoclonal antibody (p less than 0.02 at 24 hr). Free serum 8BE6 was detected for up to 48 hr after administration. Immunoperoxidase stains of tissue revealed that lymphocytes in lymph nodes and spleen were coated with mouse immunoglobulin 1 hr after antibody treatment and displayed in situ capping. Subsequently, there was a loss of T cells in all tissues (spleen, lymph node, liver, and kidney) except the thymus, with normal 8BE6 antigen staining returning by 72 hr. Areas of induration of DH reactions to PPD were reduced in 8BE6-treated GP, compared with pretreatment reactions in the same GP or in control-treated GP (p less than 0.001 for both). The numbers of infiltrating T cells and fibronectin-receptor-positive macrophages were also reduced. In contrast, 8BE6 had no effect on CBH reactions, as judged by erythema and basophil counts in 1-micron sections, although fewer T cells were found in reaction sites. There were no differences in IgM, fibronectin, or Ia staining between 8BE6-treated GP and controls. In vivo administration of a single dose of anti-T cell monoclonal antibody results in a transient, highly specific depletion of T cell populations in peripheral blood and tissues except the thymus. This treatment inhibits DH but not CBH reactions by systemic and local depletion of T cells.     

The inhibition of cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity reactions by a heterologous anti-guinea pig T cell serum.

Systemic treatment with a heterologous anti-T cell serum of guinea pigs immunized with EA in IFA markedly suppressed CBH reactivity to specific antigen and T cell mitogens, as judged by gross reactivity, histology, and skin histamine. The antiserum produced a marked drop in circulating lymphocytes, mainly at the expense of T cells, as indicated by the ability of surviving lymphocytes to rosette with rabbit RBC. It was postulated that the suppression of CBH reactivity is due to the depletion of T cells, which would have released a factor chemotactic for basophils. The data therefore provide further evidence that cutaneous reactions rich in basophils are primarily dependent on a population of T cells.     

Dissociation of IgE from receptors on human basophils. I. Enhanced passive sensitization for histamine release

Leukocytes of only one of 11 nonatopic donors could be passively sensitized for histamine release elicited by ragweed extract. A short incubation in an unbuffered isotonic saline at pH 3.9 or in an 0.01 M lactic acid/lactate-buffered isotonic saline at pH 3.9 dissociated from 4 X 10(5) to less than 3 X 10(4) IgE molecules per basophil from washed leukocytes of several in a series of six atopic and 11 nonatopic donors. After such treatment, leukocytes of only one of the 11 nonatopic donors could not be sensitized for histamine release. Basophils of the four ragweed-sensitive donors lost their sensitivity to ragweed after the treatment, but all could be passively resensitized; for three of these donors the level of release approximated their original reactivity. Leukocytes of the two mold-sensitive donors could be passively sensitized to ragweed allergens after but not before treatment. Four plasma samples from histamine release-positive volunteers were used for sensitization of treated leukocytes of each cell donor; three were consistently effective and one was consistently ineffective. The positive plasmas had concentrations of antigen E-specific IgE of over 100 ng/ml, which accounted for 17 to 23% of the total IgE; the inactive one had less than 5 ng/ml of specific IgE. For each cell donor, all three samples of active plasma mediated quite similar histamine release, but there was a spectrum of donor cell reactivity ranging from 23 to 70% release. These results suggest that basophils from each donor, atopic or nonatopic, had a maximal potential for in vitro sensitization, which was only attained if the plasma contained appropriate, but yet to be fully defined, concentrations of specific and total IgE. Several unexpected results were obtained. Treated leukocytes from some individuals were sensitized for mediator release to a greater extent by sixfold diluted than undiluted plasma. In addition, a 4-hr incubation with plasma at 37 degrees C, but not at 25 degrees C or 0 degrees C, was less effective than were shorter incubation periods. Treated leukocytes should be useful in studying kinetic and equilibrium parameters of IgE binding to specific receptors on human basophils. Analogous treatments should also be useful in sensitization and measurement of IgE-receptor interactions of mast cell populations.     

Effect of antibiotics on immediate hypersensitivity reactions in vitro: suppression of IgE-mediated histamine release from peripheral blood basophils by fosfomycin

The effect of antibiotics on allergic reactions was studied in vitro using the release of histamine from human peripheral blood leukocytes (basophils) after incubation with anti-IgE. For the several antibiotics we tested, including beta-lactams and aminoglycosides, none had the capacity to enhance antigen-induced histamine release, but some of them (minocycline, polymyxin B, and fosfomycin) suppressed the release of histamine in a dose-dependent manner. Since fosfomycin has proved to be capable of suppressing IgE-mediated histamine release non-cytotoxically, the effect of fosfomycin on histamine release induced by other secretagogues was further studied. The suppression of histamine release was also demonstrated when the leukocytes, preincubated with fosfomycin, were challenged with either Ca ionophore A 23187 or a synthetic peptide, formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP). We concluded that some antibiotics, particularly fosfomycin, have the capacity to suppress histamine release mediated by various secretagogues, suggesting they may possess an anti-allergic property as well as a bactericidal activity.     

125I-fibrin deposition in contact sensitivity reactions in the mouse. Sensitivity of the assay for quantitating reactions after active or passive sensitization

We investigated the clotting associated with delayed hypersensitivity (DH) responses in the mouse by sensitizing the animals to the contactant oxazolone (Ox), and then administering 125I-guinea pig fibrinogen i.v. 10 to 30 min before antigen challenge 5 days later. Early (4 to 8 hr) contact sensitivity (CS) responses in immunized mice were barely detectable by three conventional measures of CS, but the total 125I-cpm in ears challenged with hapten was 3.6 to 4.5 X that in control ears challenged with vehicle alone; moreover, the amount of urea-insoluble cpm (cross-linked 125I-fibrin-associated cpm) in the reactions to Ox was 6.5-fold to 8.2-fold that present in the control reactions. In 24 hr reactions that were near peak intensity by measurements of ear swelling, ear weight ratios, and ratios of 125I-5-iodo-2-deoxyuridine-labeled leukocyte infiltration, the cpm in antigen-challenged ears exceeded that in control ears by 13-fold to 53-fold. In addition, antigen-challenged ears contained 27 to 300 X the urea-insoluble cpm present in control ears. 125I-Fibrin deposition was not a specific characteristic of CS reactions, because a small amount of urea-insoluble reactivity was also detected in some reactions to Ox in native mice. Nevertheless, the assay was exquisitely sensitive and readily detected quantitative differences between the immunologically specific and nonspecific reactions at very early intervals after challenge or with suboptimal doses of antigen. Furthermore, it was more sensitive than conventional tests of CS in detecting the reactions elicited in mice that had been passively sensitized to Ox by adoptive transfer of immune lymph node cells. Finally, we showed that the assay gave similar results when we tested CS reactions elicited in mast cell deficient WBB6F1-W/Wv and littermate normal (+/+) mice, demonstrating yet another similarity in the phenotype of DH reactions elicited in the presence or absence of mast cells.     

IL-1 receptor signaling is required at multiple stages of sensitization and elicitation of the contact hypersensitivity response

Contact hypersensitivity (CHS) is a CD8 T cell-mediated response to hapten skin sensitization and challenge. The points at which IL-1R signaling is required during this complex, multistep immune response have not been clearly delineated. The role of IL-1R signaling during 2, 4 dinitro-1-fluorobenezene (DNFB) sensitization to induce hapten-specific CD8 effector T cells and in the trafficking of the effector T cells to the DNFB challenge site to elicit the response were investigated using IL-1R deficient mice. DNFB-sensitized IL-1R(-/-) mice had low CHS responses to hapten challenge that were caused in part by marked decreases in hapten-specific CD8 T cell development to IL-17- and IFN-γ-producing cells during sensitization. Hapten-primed wild type CD8 T cell transfer to naive IL-1R(-/-) mice did not result in T cell activation in response to hapten challenge, indicating a need for IL-1R signaling for the localization or activation, or both, of the CD8 T cells at the challenge site. Decreased CD8 T cell priming in sensitized IL-1R(-/-) mice was associated with marked decreases in hapten-presenting dendritic cell migration from the sensitized skin to draining lymph nodes. Transfer of hapten-presenting dendritic cells from wild type donors to naive IL-1R(-/-) mice resulted in decreased numbers of the dendritic cells in the draining lymph nodes and decreased priming of hapten-specific CD8 T cells compared with dendritic cell transfer to naive wild type recipients. These results indicate that IL-1R signaling is required at multiple steps during the course of sensitization and challenge to elicit CHS.