Antigen-antibody complexes in or on eosinophils in nasal secretions

The presence of IgG and ragweed antigen in or on eosinophils in the nasal secretions of ragweed-sensitive patients was investigated by radioautography using specifically purified 125I-labelled antibodies to the above substances. The results indicate a significant (p smaller than 0.001) uptake of antiragweed antibody and anti-IgE antibody by eosinophils. There was no evidence of significant uptake of anti-IgG. From the above findings it was postulated that during the pollination season exposure to ragweed leads to the formation of ragweed-IgE antibody complexes. This is followed by the infiltration of eosinophils into the local tissue and the subsequent phagocytosis of these antigen-antibody complexes by the eosinophils.