Basophil histamine release induced by leukocyte nuclei in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Leukocyte suspensions containing basophils were obtained from 23 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). When these cells were incubated with leukocyte nuclei from normal persons, histamine release was seen in 11 of the 15 patients with active disease, but not in the quiescent group or in normal individuals. The dose-response curve for histamine release was similar to that obtained by specific antigen in type I allergy. By removal from and refixation to the cells of surface Ig, the release of histamine was respectively, abolished and restored, just as in similar experiments in hay fever patients. The dependence of pH for removal was also identical with that found in type I allergy. Antinuclear antibodies of the IgE class (IgE ANA) mainly directed against the granulocyte nuclei were often found in serum and on the cell surface of the RA patients, but not in normal individuals. A correlation was found between these titres in serum and on the cell surface. No correlation was found between ANA in serum and on the cell surface, on the one hand and disease activity and histamine release on the other. In a group of 12 patients with another joint disease, osteoarthrosis, only two patients showed histamine release, and in contrast to the other patients they showed swelling of more than two joints. The present investigation supports our hypothesis of an involvement of an autoimmune type I reaction directed against nuclear components in the RA disease.