Mast Cell Interactions with the Nervous System

作者：Kevin C. Dines, Henry C. Powell · 发表于：Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology · 年份：1997 · DOI：10.1097/00005072-199756060-00001 · 被引用次数：111 · 研究领域：Mast cells and histamine、Tryptophan and brain disorders、Amino Acid Enzymes and Metabolism

In summary, mast cell interactions in the nervous system are relevant to both physiological processes (i.e. reproduction) and pathologic states (i.e. inflammatory demyelination, painful disorders, toxic and metabolic disease, and tumor angiogenesis). Their physiologic roles may contribute to gender-related vulnerability to inflammatory disease and may modulate sensitivity to pain. Mast cells are universally involved in tissue repair and they release and respond to trophic factors such as NGF. These cells also produce and react to cytokines, and thus appear to play a role in tissue degeneration as well as repair. In certain neurological diseases, i.e. multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barré syndrome, the ability of mast cell proteases to degrade specific myelin proteins suggests that these cells are agents, rather than bystanders, in the demyelinative process. Even more intriguing is their recently identified capacity to process bacterial antigen as efficiently as activated macrophages, suggesting that a more critical role than previously suspected might be considered for mast cells in CNS and PNS demyelination. In experimental metabolic disorders such as galactose intoxication and thiamine deficiency, mast cells appear to play a pathogenic role. Thus, in galactose intoxication, altered BNB vascular permeability occurs in conjunction with mast cell proliferation and degranulation, while in thiamine deficiency, increased histamine levels have been reported in the rat thalamus (79...