Establishment of a basophil activation test in BN rats

Allergies induced by low molecular weight compounds (LMWCs) have become a major problem in clinical medication. Effective preclinical prediction of sensitization can solve this problem; however, there are currently no reliable methods to predict sensitization, and it is necessary to establish a more effective model. The basophil activation test (BAT) has been widely used clinically to diagnose and research allergic diseases with high sensitivity. The purpose of this study was to detect the expression of CD63 in basophils in OVA-sensitized brown Norway (BN) rats, establishing a model for the BAT to assess the sensitization of the low molecular weight compound PG. The number of basophils in rats was detected by flow cytometry and blood smear analysis. The peripheral blood of OVA-sensitized rats was incubated with OVA, and the increase in CD63 on basophils was greater than that with PBS in vitro. After penicillin G-conjugated OVA (PG/OVA) was incubated with the peripheral blood of penicillin G-conjugated BSA (PG/BSA)-sensitized rats, the expression of CD63 on basophils was significantly higher than that with PBS. The basophils in the sensitized rats were again exposed to the same antigen in vitro, and flow cytometry detected a significant increase in CD63, demonstrating that the rat BAT model was successfully built, and it can be used to evaluate the potential sensitization of low molecular weight compounds.