Sepharose beads coated with IgG stimulate eosinophils to produce leukotriene C4 (LTC4). This observation has been extended with specific immobilized IgG/antigen immune complexes to elicit mediator generation. An extract of Aspergillus fumigatus was covalently coupled to Sepharose beads and incubated with the IgG fraction of immune serum from patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. These beads elicited generation of 7.72 +/- 1.7 pmol of LTC4 immunoreactive material (n = 5) from 1 X 10(6) normal eosinophils of greater than 86% purity, and significantly less LTC4 (0.73 +/- 0.19 pmol per 10(6) cells; n = 3) was produced by eosinophils after incubation with beads treated with IgG from normal nonimmune serum. The maximum antibody-dependent release achieved represented approximately 20% of that induced by the calcium ionophore (A23187). LTC4 was measured by radioimmunoassay and validated by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The amount of LTC4 generated was dependent on the concentration of A. fumigatus-specific IgG, and mediator release was completely abolished by prior adsorption of the IgG fraction onto Sepharose-protein A (Staphylococcus aureus). Grass pollen-specific IgG antibody/antigen complexes, in combination with Sepharose beads, also triggered generation of LTC4 immunoreactive material. There was no evidence to suggest that IgE/A. fumigatus immune complexes triggered LTC4 generation, although IgE myeloma protein, in association with Sepharose beads, was a weak stimulus. The efficacy of the IgG immune complex-dependent stimulation of eosinophils suggests a possible physiologic mechanism whereby these cells could participate in the inflammatory changes associated with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and similar allergic disorders.