[Analysis of membrane expression of the CD63 human basophil activation marker. Applications to allergologic...

On the basis of the CD 63 bi-modal expression on the membrane of activated basophils, we set up a flow cytometric method for the analysis of human basophils activation by an anti-IgE and anti-CD 63 double labelling. We demonstrated that the statistical characteristics of the percentages of activation obtained by an anti-IgE stimulation allowed the use of this method for pharmacological studies. The percentages of activation were of the same order of magnitude than those obtained by histamine release. CD 63 expression was also observed for a low affinity allergen such as the sulfonyl-HSA conjugate used for sulfites hypersensibility diagnosis, healthy donors being negative. This method, which can be automatized may represent an interesting candidate in the field of hapten hypersensitivity which lacks of reliable diagnostical methods.