Bimodal IgG4-mediated human basophil activation. Role of eosinophils.

The role of IgG4 antibodies in allergic disorders is suspected. Yet, their presence on human basophil membrane has not been demonstrated and the mechanism of the degranulation induced by anti-IgG4 antibodies remains unclear. As previously reported, we observed that monoclonal anti-IgG4 (10 to 100 micrograms/ml) induced histamine release in the presence of D2O from leukocytes of normal and atopic subjects. The release was accompanied by a decrease of the number of toluidine blue-positive basophils (TB+). Histamine release and TB+ decrease were also observed with lower concentrations of anti-IgG4 (1 to 100 pg/ml). Since basophil activation assessed by TB+ decrease was more sensitive than histamine release, we thus used the former method to further study the mechanisms of the anti-IgG4- vs anti-IgE-induced basophil activation. Basophil activation by anti-IgG4 at 1 to 100 pg/ml, but not by anti-IgG4 at 10 to 100 micrograms/ml or anti-IgE, required the presence of polymorphonuclear cells. Furthermore, anti-IgG4-stimulated purified eosinophils, but not neutrophils, released basophil-activating factors identified as cationic proteins from eosinophils. Thus, the human basophil can be activated by anti-IgG4 via two different mechanisms according to the antibody concentration. At high concentrations (10 to 100 micrograms/ml) basophil activation does not require the presence of polymorphonuclear cells whereas at lower concentrations (1 to 100 pg/ml) the presence of eosinophils is necessary. We propose that in the latter concentration range, basophil activation is a two-step process: 1) release by anti-IgG4 of eosinophil cationic proteins that 2) will, in turn, activate human basophils. This study lends support to the role of IgG4 and eosinophils in anaphylactic reactions.