IgE on Langerhans cells in the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis and birch allergy.

Epidermal cell suspensions from the skin of seven patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and seven healthy non-atopic controls were investigated for the presence of surface HLA-DR and CD1 antigen, and IgE using indirect and double-staining immunofluorescence techniques. Fifty-seven percent of all CD1+ and 68% of all HLA-DR+ cells from the patients demonstrated IgE on their surface, indicating that Langerhans cells (Lc) in AD may be a heterogeneous population with regard to surface characteristics. No IgE+ cells were found in the epidermal cell suspensions from the healthy non-atopic controls. An attempt to demonstrate birch pollen antigen on the surface of Lc from the same patients all strongly allergic to birch pollen, using indirect immunofluorescence techniques, was unsuccessful, also after in vitro incubation of the Lc with high concentration of the birch antigen.