[Mediator release assay of rat basophil leukemia cells as alternative for passive cutaneous anaphylaxis testing (PCA)...

Passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) is an animal model for inflammatory reactions in Type I allergy. An in vitro assay based on IgE dependent and allergen-induced mediator release of RBL-2H3 cells is presented as an alternative for PCA. The assay has been adopted to the special needs of examining allergen extracts and has been proven to be practicable and reliable. A high number of samples can be processed quickly in one assay, with intra-assay variations below 10%. The first successful applications are the measurement of biologic potencies in allergenic extracts and the determination of murine serum IgE antibodies. Further studies will show whether this assay is suited to evaluate the efficiency of anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic drugs.