Cellular inflammatory response to fungal antigen studied with the skin window technique--correlation of the exudate with the evolution of the mycotic infection.

The skin window technique, using a coverslip, was applied to study the inflammatory exudate induced by killed pathogenic yeasts in patients with mycotic infections. The presence of eosinophils in the specific exudate after 3 hours seems to indicate specific IgE fixed in the tissues. This was demonstrated by the correlation of this specific eosinophilia with the eosinophilia induced by an anti-IgE serum and with the positive immediate intradermal reactions and by the correlation with serum-specific IgE detected with an immunoenzymatic technique. Increased eosinophilia is related to the active phase of the disease. The eosinophilia in the specific exudate seems to be more reliable than an in vitro technique for the detection of the specific IgE against fungal antigen. In this material, the eosinophilia demonstrated that yeast-specific IgE may be responsible for both immediate and delayed intradermal reactions.