The significance of cell-bound antigen-specific IgE in chronic urticaria.

Radioallergosorbent test (RAST) was performed on the sera obtained from chronic urticarial patients from whose leucocytes significant histamine release by mite antigen was observed. In 14 out of 19 cases investigated, no mite-antigen-specific IgE was detected in their sera by RAST, in spite of significant mite-antigen-induced histamine release from their leucocytes. The results suggest that type I reaction may be involved in chronic urticaria and the cell-bound, antigen-specific IgE may be important rather than the circulating antigen-specific IgE in this disease.