Abstract
Leukocytes from mite sensitive asthmatic patient were challenged with the allergen and the supernatant was assayed for histamine and immunoreactive-leukotriene C4 (i-LTC4) . i-LTC4, which was measured by a commercial radioimmunoassay kit, was confirmed to consist of LTC4 with a little amount of LTD4 and the LTC4 was derived from basophils. Allergen induced a concentration-dependent release of histamine and i-LTC4. The maximal release of histamine and i-LTC4 occured at the same dose of the allergen. At optimal concentration of the allergen, basophils produced 20.4±17.9 ng of i-LTC4/106 cells (mean±SD, n=39) and histamine release was 55.6 ±20.1% of total histamine. There was a significant correlation in the capacity of leukocytes to release histamine and i-LTC4 (r=0.47, P<0.01) . The reactivity and the cell sensitivity of the cells to the allergen for histamine release paralleled the severity to symptoms of asthnia, but this correlation was not significant in i-LTC4 generation.
