L. Räsänen, T. Reunala, M. Lehto, E. Virtanen, H. Arvilommi
DOI: 10.2340/0001555572193196

We investigated immediate and delayed hypersensitivity to birch pollen in 10 patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) who had experienced a worsening of their eczema during the birch pollen season. The patients were prick- and patch-tested and antigen-induced basophil histamine release and lymphocyte proliferation were measured. 9/10 birch pollen-allergic patients proved positive in the histamine release test and the results correlated with specific IgE levels measured by RAST. Birch pollen antigen induced lymphocyte proliferation in 6/10 patients, but a positive patch test result was obtained in only one case. Both peripheral blood monocytes and purified epidermal Langerhans' cells were able to present birch pollen antigen to T cells, although Langerhans' s cells seemed to function less efficiently in this respect.