Antibody and inhibitor of chymase inhibit histamine release in immunoglobulin E-activated mast cells.

The low-molecular-weight inhibitor of chymase, chymostatin, and F(ab')2 fragments of anti-chymase markedly inhibited histamine release induced by anti-rat immunoglobulin E (IgE) but not that induced by compound 48/80. Inhibitors with molecular weights of more than 6,000, such as alpha 1-antichymotrypsin and aprotinin, and non-immunized F(ab')2 had no effect on histamine release. These results suggest that chymase in mast cell granules plays an essential role in the process of IgE-mediated degranulation. After degranulation, released chymase was associated with the cell surface while released tryptase was present in the extracellular milieu as a complex with a protein associated with tryptase (trypstatin).