Immunologically induced pleural and peritoneal mast cell histamine release: difference in responsiveness in relation to secretagogue and rat strain used.

Responsiveness was compared for cell populations harvested from the peritoneal and pleural cavities of rats with respect to histamine release induced by specific antigen, anti-IgE, and Con A. Cell populations were obtained from Fischer, PVG or Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, which were either untreated or immunized with 10 micrograms ovalbumin together with 100 mg alum intraperitoneally. Mast cell histamine release was examined with crude cell populations. The results show that differences in response capacity to the various secretagogues employed do exist between pleural and peritoneal cells in Fischer and PVG strains but under the present circumstances apparently not in SD rats. These differences vary in magnitude with the secretagogue employed and (for cells from immunized animals) with the time elapsed between immunization and test. In PVG rats, neither pleural nor peritoneal mast cell histamine release induced by antigen paralleled serum OA-IgE antibody levels. Furthermore, an increase in anti-IgE induced release of histamine from serosal mast cells occurred in parallel with a decrease in total serum IgE levels. These data indicate that the functional differences observed with respect to release properties of the two cell populations are due not only to intrinsic differences in mast cell populations but also to differences in reaginic antibodies sensitizing the cells.