Conditioned Media from Cultured Blood Cells of Atopic Individuals Can Induce Differentiation in the Human Basophilic Leukemia Cell Line KU812

The basophilic propagating activity was determined in conditioned media obtained from cell cultures of mononuclear cells from atopic and healthy individuals. The activity was analyzed as the capacity to induce differentiation in the human basophilic cell line KU812. The KU812 cells responded primarily to cultured media with histamine production and secondarily with granulation. Eight atopic individuals, 3 of whom having mild symptoms, with known birch allergies were selected together with 3 control individuals. Total and specific IgE were analyzed in sera, and basophil and eosinophil counts were determined from blood smears after Wright’s staining. Significant differences between the symptomatic atopic individuals and the control group were obtained for eosinophil counts (p