Figure 5.

IgE‐BP180 complexes are capable of inducing the degranulation of basophils. FcεRI‐expressing rat basophils were loaded with IgE present in the sera of two patients with BP, (a) BP‐51 and (b) BP‐80, and stimulated with increasing dilutions of highly (closed symbols) or poorly antigenic (open symbols) BP180 peptides (see Fig. 1c). (c) Receptor loading with IgE from patient BP‐51 was preceded by incubation with α‐FcεRI or isotype control. (d) IgG‐depleted or nondepleted BP‐51 sera were tested for their potential to cause basophils to degranulate. Results are expressed as a percentage of maximum β‐hexosaminidase release, achieved by solubilizing cell membranes. The data represented in the graphs are mean ± SD. *P < 0·05, **P < 0·01, ***P < 0·001.