Active and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in WBB6F1 mouse, a mast cell-deficient strain

WBB6F1 mouse, a mast cell-deficient strain, was tested for active and passive cutaneous anaphylactic reactions. Active cutaneous anaphylaxis was not produced in mice which had been immunized for 1 to 2 weeks by an intraperitoneal injection of bovine serum albumin with either adjuvant, Freund's complete adjuvant or Bordetella pertussis organisms, even though circulatory IgE and IgG1 antibodies were raised. Passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) was also absent, when the mice had been sensitized with allogeneic IgE or IgG1 monoclonal antibodies. However, obvious PCA was produced when allogeneic or xenogeneic hyperimmune serum was employed. These findings indicate that mast cells are not necessarily needed for the production of PCA. Some mechanism quite different from the well-elucidated mechanism, i.e., IgE- or IgG1 antibody-triggered histamine release from mast cells, seems to be operative.