Sequential immunologic stimuli to the respiratory tract: a paradox in the degree of potentiation of airway responses depending on the sequence of reverse passive and active immunologic stimulation.

Immunologic stimuli to the airway of rhesus monkeys were given by aerosol challenge with ascaris antigen or anti-IgE. Both of these stimuli produce immediate-type airway responses. When 2 sequential aerosol challenges were given during the same experiment, the response following the second stimulus was always less than or equal to the first response following any combination of stimuli except the anti-IgE-ascaris sequence. The second response following the latter challenge was always greater than or equal to the first response. The possibility that this exception was the result of anti-IgE priming mediator releasing cells for antigen was not supported by in vitro experiments. It is suggested that the results obtained with the anti-IgE-ascaris sequence may relate to the presence of intralumenal mast cells in the bronchi and the molecular weights of the 2 immunologic stimuli.