Mast Cells Increase

Mast cells are amine-storing cells with heterogeneous histochemical and biochemical properties. They are present in the central and peripheral nervous system, as well as in connective tissue of many mammalian species. This paper reviews an article published in Brain, Behavior and Immunology in 1998 which presented results of a study showing an increase in the number of mast cells in the central nervous system of adult male mice following chronic subordination stress.

Mast cells are derived from the pluripotential stem cells of the bone marrow and complete their differentiation under the influence of the local microenvironment of the tissues and organs they migrate to. The presence of mast cells in the mammalian central nervous system is intriguing, since the brain has long been considered an immune privileged site, and has always been believed to exclude circulating cells from the parenchyma. A variation in the number of mast cells in the central nervous system has been found between various mammalian species. The appearance of these cells appears to be triggered behaviorally.

While several early studies failed to demonstrate mast cells within the central nervous system, later investigations revealed the presence of these cells in the mammalian brain, usually found associated with blood vessels. Mast cells have been observed in the cerebral cortex, the dorsal thalamus, and the leptomeninges over these areas in rodent brains. Mast cells in the brain are in an ide

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on a freezing microtome and used for morphometric determination. Mast cell distribution was determined on 10 consecutive coronal sections, beginning with the hippocampus and continuing in a rostrocaudal direction, then stained in toluidine blue and analyzed microscopically. Mast cells identified by their deeply blue stained metachromatic granules were counted in the sections. The number of mast cells were counted in the thalamus, habenula, and hypothalamus of the experimental groups Results showed that subjects in the control group as well as subjects in the group exposed to the empty cage of the isolated resident containing its soiled bedding had a lower number of mast cells in all the regions of the brain tested. No mast cells were found in the hypothalamus in these two groups. The number of mast cells was significantly higher in the thalamus of subjects fighting on the test day than in the habenula, which in turn was higher than in the hypothalamus. Behaviorally, aggression became more pronounced with time with group-housed animals showing a clear subordination profile. There was a significant correlation between the number of attacks and grooming behavior. Duration and frequency of sniffing were greater in the subjec

Category: Science - M