Basophilic Leukocytes in Allergic Contact Dermatitis

Abstract

A variety of cell-mediated hypersensitivity reactions in experimental animals include a prominent infiltrate of basophilic leukocytes. This form of reactivity has been designated cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity and is favored when sensitization to several types of antigen is accomplished without the use of complete Freund's adjuvant. A similar type of hypersensitivity response was sought in man using morphologic techniques which permit identification of basophilic leukocytes. Eight individuals with allergic contact dermatitis to a variety of allergens were studied and six of these developed typical contact reactions with erythema, edema, and epidermal vesicles. The microscopic findings in 3-day biopsies from these individuals differed significantly from classic descriptions of tuberculin hypersensitivity and showed, in addition to mononuclear cells and the characteristic epidermal changes, a substantial infiltrate of basophilic leukocytes and evidence of altered vascular permeability with vascular compaction, dermal edema, and fibrin deposition. Serial biopsies from one individual permitted analysis of the microscopic pathology as it unfolded at successive intervals after patch test. The initial lesion consisted of perivascular accumulations of lymphocytes; this was followed by an influx of basophils and, subsequently, of eosinophils. These findings associate contact allergy in man with the parallel reactions of cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity in animals and provide further evidence for the heterogeneity of the cellular immune response. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that interaction between sensitized lymphocytes and antigen, at a local test site, is responsible for the attraction of basophils. They also directly implicate the clotting system in delayed-type reactions and suggest the possibility of a synergistic relationship between cellular immunity and reactions mediated by basophil-bound, homocytotrophic antibody.

Ultrastructural morphology of adrenal chromaffin cells indicative of a process of piecemeal degranulation

“…The term PMD was introduced in the 1970s by Dvorak et al (1973Dvorak et al ( , 1974Dvorak et al ( , 1976, who first recognized a unique pattern of cell secretion in guinea pig and human basophils. Viewed by electron microscopy, basophils in PMD presented empty granule chambers that did not fuse with each other or with the plasma membrane.…”

Basophil Responses to Chemokines Are Regulated by Both Sequential and Cooperative Receptor Signaling

“…Eosinophils dominate helminth responses (1) and allergen late phase responses (6,32), whereas basophils dominate cutaneous basophil reactions (8,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) and tick (3), as well as contact dermatitis responses (9,10). Differential basophil signaling via sequential and cooperatively acting chemokines could be a mechanism explaining these in vivo differences.…”

“…Although exceeded in numbers by eosinophils, basophils are a constituent of the cellular infiltrate in bronchial tissue of atopic asthmatic patients (4,5) and are further increased after allergen challenge (6). More prominently, basophils are a major constituent of the cellular infiltrate in the cutaneous late-phase reaction to allergens (6,7) and dominate some T cell-mediated delayed-type hypersensitivity responses, such as cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (8), contact dermatitis (9,10), and late-phase IgG1- (11,12), IgE- (13), and other T cell-mediated responses (14,15).…”

The induction of delayed type hypersensitivity to dinitrochlorobenzene in the chicken

“…Awadhiya et al (1982) also reported that the DTH reaction to DNCB in chickens consisted of infiltrated polymorphonuclear granulocytes and lymphocytes. In contrast, Dvorak and Mihm (1972) and Gershon et al (1975) reported that basophils comprise a significant portion of the inflammatory cells in almost all types of DTH reactions (DNFB, oxazolone, sheep red blood cells) in guinea pigs, humans and mice. The difference in type of granulocytes could be due to variation from one species to another.…”