Studies of IgG bound to basophils in bronchial asthmatics - A role of IgG antibody in late asthmatic response -

The similarities between the clinical characteristics of instractable asthma and attacks of late asthmatic response (LAR) have been noted. To clarify the pathogenesis of intractable asthma, the mechanism of LAR was studied using a technique of immuno-scaning electron microscopy to determine the density and distribution of immunoglobulins bound to the surface of peripheral blood basophils from bronchial asthma patients with asthmatic responses provoked by inhalation of house dust or Candida antigens. In a study of immunoglobulin density, the ratio of the number of IgG to IgE antibodies was higher in asthmatics with house dust-provoked LAR than in those with IAR, and the values were even higher in those with Candida-provoked LAR. In a study of the distribution of bound immunoglobulins, the overall rates of cap and patch formations, which seems to indicate an activation of cells, tended to be higher in asthmatics with house dust-provoked LAR than in those with IAR. The same tendency was also seen in those with Candida-provoked LAR. These results suggest that the IgG antibodies play an important role in LAR, although IgE antibodies are predominant in IAR. This trend is marked in asthmatics with Candida-induced LAR