Studies on morphological changes of basophil granulocytes after addition of antigen 2. Observation of basophil granulocytes with a differential-interference microscope

Morphological changes, i.e., increased motility and degranulation, of basophils of 5 atopic asthmatics after antigen stimulation were observed in differenctial-interference microscopic motion pictures. Among basophil granulocytes with increased motility and without degranulation after antigen stimulation, the incidence of A(1) type basophils, which showed random movement, and A(2) type basophils, which showed oriented movement, clearly increased during the 15-min. microscopic observation. Among basophil granulocytes with degranulation after addition of antigen, the incidence of A(1) type basophils slightly. increased, and A3 type basophils, which are a pre-swollen cell, characteristically appeared before degranulation. No A(2) type basophils were observed for 15 min.