Cutaneous Basophil Hypersensitivity in Contact-sensitized Guinea Pigs

Cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity, an immune inflammatory reaction characterized by infiltrates of basophils and a delayed time-course, was studied in guinea pigs contact sensitized with oxazolone. Routine histological techniques, employing ordinary paraffin sections, were modified to study this reaction. When biopsies of contact lesions were processed by these methods dense infiltrates of basophils could be demonstrated. Animals sensitized with complete Freund's adjuvant emulsified with oxazolone-keyhole limpet hemocyanin conjugates also developed delayed-in-time responses to contact challenge with oxazolone but not to picryl chloride. These hapten-specific delayed-in-time reactions also contained substantial numbers of basophils. Transfer of serum from actively sensitized guinea pigs resulted in specific accumulation of basophils at challenge sites of recipients. Thus, in this experimental system, cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity was found to be a hapten-specific delayed-in-time reaction that could be transferred with immune serum.