Detecting anti-FcepsilonRI autoantibodies in patients with asthma by flow cytometry

Autoimmune diseases have been implicated in the development of intrinsic asthma, however little data are available on the role of autoimmunity in the pathogenesis of asthma. The purpose of this study was to investigate circulating autoantibodies against the high-affinity receptor for immunoglobulin E, FcepsilonRI, in patients with asthma. Seventy-eight patients with asthma and 32 healthy control subjects were included. All individuals were tested using a triple-staining flow cytometry-based basophil activation test (BAT) for the potential presence of autoantibodies against FcepsilonRI. Of the 78 asthma patients, 29 (37.2%) had a positive BAT result, indicating that their serum was able to activate basophils, compared with only four (12.5%) of the control group, a statistically significant between-group difference. These data suggest that some asthma patients have aberrant anti-FcepsilonRI autoantibodies, which implies that autoimmunity may be one factor involved in the pathogenesis of intrinsic asthma.