Open AccessRelationship between facilitated allergen presentation and the presence of allergen‐specific IgE in serum of atopic patients
Author(s) -
HEIJDEN F. L.,
NEERVEN R. J. J.,
KAPSENBERG M. L.
Publication year - 1995
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 - 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1995.tb05547.x
Subject(s) - immunoglobulin e , allergen , cd23 , immunology , allergy , medicine , antibody , chemistry
SUMMARY Allergen presentation to allergen‐specific T cells can be facilitated when IgE–allergen complexes are endocytosed by antigen‐presenting cells (APC) after binding to the low‐affinity Fc·R type II (CD23). Here we present a study on the relative capabilities of sera of atopic patients to mediate facilitated antigen presentation (FAP). To this aim FAP was studied in an in vitro model in which CD23‐expressing Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)‐B cells act as APC to T lymphocyte clones (TLC) that are specific for Der p 2, a major allergen of housedust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dp). Der p 2 is immune‐complexed by preincubation in sera from atopic patients, containing allergen‐specific IgE. If EBV‐B cells are preincubated with these complexes before using the cells as APC, the allergen‐specific TLC proliferate at 100–1000‐fold lower allergen concentration than required for T cell activation after presentation of uncomplexed allergen. The relative capability of various sera to mediate FAP was correlated with total serum IgE, and especially with Der p 2‐specific serum IgE. In the model used, a high FAP capacity could be demonstrated only in sera with a total serum IgE concentration above approximately 2 /μg/ml or with Der p 2‐specific IgE above approximately 100 ng/ml. Maximal FAP, i.e. the ability to induce maximal proliferation of the TLC, was obtained in the presence of more than × 600 ng Der p 2‐specific IgE/ml. At 100–600 ng/ml Der p 2‐specific IgE the level of FAP was correlated with the concentration of allergen‐specific IgE, whereas at lower concentrations FAP was low or absent. All tested sera from eczema patients, all having serum anti‐Der p 2‐IgE concentrations > 600 ng/ml, showed a high FAP capacity, whereas all tested sera from atopic patients without eczema, which had serum anti‐Der p 2‐IgE levels < 600 ng/ml, showed no or a low FAP capacity. The association of high FAP capacity with eczema may reflect a functional role of FAP in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis.