Sir, Chronic idiopathic urticaria may be autoimmune in origin (autoimmune urticaria), caused by functional autoantibodies that activate mast cells and basophils through cross linking the high affinity IgE receptor (FcεRIα) to secrete histamine. An incidence of 30% to 50% has been reported by various investigators. While there are no clinical features that distinguish ordinary urticaria from aut...

intradermal injection of autologous serum and plasma elicit a cutaneous reactivity in almost 45-60% of patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria (ciu).   this reactivity is associated with the presence of auto antibodies against ige or ige receptors. this study was carried out to compare the cutaneous reactivity of autologous serum and plasma skin tests in a series of patients with ciu for dia...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-allergy activities of persimmon leaf extract (PLE) on a phthalic anhydride (PA)-induced allergic mouse model. A human leukemic mast cell line (HMC-1) was used to examine the inhibitory activity of PLE on the histamine release by human leukemic mast cells. PLE inhibited histamine release from HMC-1 cells in response to cross-linkage of high-a...

NK cells are innate immune lymphocytes and play a key role in both innate and adaptive immunity. Their pivotal functions in vivo have been illustrated in mice by means of their ablation with NK cell-depleting Abs, particularly anti-asialo GM1 (ASGM1). In this study, we show that the whole population of basophils constitutively expresses ASGM1 as well as CD49b (DX5) as does the NK cell populatio...

CD72 is a transmembrane protein belonging to the C-type lectin family that is expressed by various hematopoietic cells. When bound to its natural ligand, CD100 (semaphorin 4D), CD72 inhibits the KIT-mediated responses of human mast cells, but not IgE/FcεRI-mediated mast cell degranulation. We extended these findings to examine the role of CD72 in mouse mast cells. CD72 expression was detected i...