Background: Animal models have demonstrated that allergen-specific IgG confers sensitivity to systemic anaphylaxis that relies on IgG Fc receptors (FcγRs). Mouse IgG_2a and IgG_2b bind activating FcγRI, FcγRIII, and FcγRIV and inhibitory FcγRIIB; mouse IgG₁ binds only FcγRIII and FcγRIIB. Although these interactions are of strikingly different affinities, these 3 IgG subclasses have been shown to enable induction of systemic anaphylaxis.

Objective: We sought to determine which pathways control the induction of IgG₁-, IgG_2a-, and IgG_2b-dependent passive systemic anaphylaxis.

Methods: Mice were sensitized with IgG₁, IgG_2a, or IgG_2b anti-trinitrophenyl mAbs and challenged with trinitrophenyl-BSA intravenously to induce systemic anaphylaxis that was monitored by using rectal temperature. Anaphylaxis was evaluated in mice deficient for FcγRs injected with mediator antagonists or in which basophils, monocytes/macrophages, or neutrophils had been depleted. FcγR expression was evaluated on these cells before and after anaphylaxis.

Results: Activating FcγRIII is the receptor primarily responsible for all 3 models of anaphylaxis, and subsequent downregulation of this receptor was observed. These models differentially relied on histamine release and the contribution of mast cells, basophils, macrophages, and neutrophils. Strikingly, basophil contribution and histamine predominance in mice with IgG₁- and IgG_2b-induced anaphylaxis correlated with the ability of inhibitory FcγRIIB to negatively regulate these models of anaphylaxis.

Conclusion: We propose that the differential expression of inhibitory FcγRIIB on myeloid cells and its differential binding of IgG subclasses controls the contributions of mast cells, basophils, neutrophils, and macrophages to IgG subclass-dependent anaphylaxis. Collectively, our results unravel novel complexities in the involvement and regulation of cell populations in IgG-dependent reactions in vivo.