Automated Measurement of Human Basophil Degranulation

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Abstract
Basophils disappear after challenge with specific antigen. A human basophil degranulation test was carried out on a slide using an enriched cell suspension. On each slide, the same volume of cell suspension was deposited in wells with antigen diluted in buffer or with buffer only (control). The basophil count was made on an equal number of randomly distributed microscopic fields either by eye (optical) or by image analyzer (automatic). In 35 subjects, the correlation coefficient between the numbers of non-degranulated basophils counted by eye and by image-analyzer on control wells was r = 0.91. In 12 patients (6 with hydatidosis and 6 with schistosomiasis), the percentage of degranulation with 3 antigen dilutions was measured. The correlation between results obtained by eye and by image-analyzer reached 0.76. Automated measurement of human basphil degranulation is used routinely.