Open AccessImpairment of the inhibitory effect of sodium on basophil histamine release in patients with systemic sclerosis
Author(s) -
TEDESCHI A.,
PALELLA M.,
MILAZZO N.,
MASCAGNI B.,
MIADONNA A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
clinical & experimental immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1365-2249
pISSN - 0009-9104
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2249.1996.d01-634.x
Subject(s) - histamine , basophil , immunoglobulin e , population , medicine , endocrinology , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , immunology , chemistry , antibody , environmental health
It has been demonstrated that Na + down‐regulates IgE‐dependent and IgE‐independent histamine release from basophils of normal subjects. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether Na + exerts its inhibitory effect on basophil histamine release in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Peripheral blood leucocytes were stimulated with anti‐IgE, n ‐formyl‐methionyl‐leucyl‐phenylalanine (fMLP) and IL‐3 in the presence of high and low Na + concentrations, and histamine release was measured by a fluorometric method. The dose–response curves of histamine release induced by the above stimuli were similar in SSc patients ( n = 15) and in normal subjects ( n = 39). Na + removal from the extracellular medium and its isosmotic replacement with choline chloride led to a significant increase of anti‐IgE‐and fMLP‐induced histamine release in normal subjects, but not in SSc patients. In the former population, histamine release induced by an optimal dose of anti‐IgE (1/5000) was 26.4 ± 3.1% in high Na + and 59.3 ± 3.5% in low Na + (mean ± s.e.m., P < 0.0001), whereas in the latter population mean histamine release was 20.4 ± 5.1% in high Na + and 15.8 ± 2.9% in low Na + ( P NS). A similar trend was observed when basophils were stimulated with fMLP. Na + exerted a dose‐dependent inhibitory effect on anti‐IgE‐ and fMLP‐induced histamine release in normal subjects, but not in SSc patients. IL‐3‐induced histamine release from basophils of SSc patients was increased in a low‐Na + solution, but to a lesser extent when compared with normal controls. Therefore basophils from normal subjects and SSc patients behave in a different way when stimulated in a low‐Na + medium. The inhibitory effect of Na + on basophil histamine release is impaired in SSc patients, and this abnormality could contribute to basophil dysfunction.