Liu, Wai Leung;
(1990)
Some studies on mast cell heterogeneity in man and other species.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D.), University College London.
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Abstract
The development of methods for the enzymic dispersion and isolation of free mast cells from a number of target tissues has yielded valuable information conceming the phenomenon of mast cell heterogeneity. Now, a rapidly increasing body of evidence firmly indicates that mast cells from different species and from different tissues within a given animal may exhibit marked variations in their pharmacological, histochemical and morphological properties. In the present study, the functional characteristics of mast cells isolated from a range of animals including man are compared. Next, heterogeneity within a single species is investigated both in rat and human mast cells, and finally, a study on human colonic mucosal mast cells from patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is reported. Rat serosal mast cells were most responsive to the histamine releasing action of polybasic compounds and neuropeptides. Hamster and mouse peritoneal mast cells showed lower reactivity, while tissue mast cells from the pig, guinea pig and man were essentially refractory to these agents. This pattern of differential responsiveness was also observed for the anti-allergic chromones disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) and nedocromil sodium. Rat mast cells from different anatomical locations responded in a heterogeneous fashion to the actions of histamine liberators and anti-allergic compounds. In general, cells from the peritoneum released the greatest percentage of their total cellular histamine in response to secretagogues of both immunological and non-immunological nature and were also the most sensitive towards agents that inhibited histamine release. In contrast, tissue mast cells were less responsive than their peritoneal counterparts. The order of reactivity was typically: mesentery >lung >intestine. This apparent heterogeneity, however, was less clearly defined in human mast cells. Indeed, apart from some subtle histochemical and functional differences, mast cells from the lung parenchyma, colonic mucosa, colonic submucosa/muscle, stomach mucosa and uterine myometrium were, in many respects, similar to each other. Finally, an increase in mast cell numbers was observed in the colonic mucosa of patients suffering from Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. However, this apparent increase was not associated with an enhancement of their reactivity.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D. |
| Title: | Some studies on mast cell heterogeneity in man and other species. |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Thesis digitised by Proquest |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10108316 |
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