EDITORIALS
Human lung mast cell heterogeneity
Correspondence to:
Professor P Bradding, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Glenfield Hospital, Groby Road, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK; pbradding@hotmail.com
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Mast cells are found throughout the human body, both at mucosal surfaces and in the connective tissue of all organs. In fact, they are present in all classes of vertebrates including amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, and it has been estimated that the storage of histamine in vertebrate mast cells and its use as an inflammatory mediator was established in primitive reptiles (Lepidosauria) about 276 million years ago.1 This suggests that they mediate functions essential for life rather than representing a vestigial remnant of the immune system. Indeed, mast cells have been implicated in the regulation of many diverse homeostatic and pathological processes. For example, potential beneficial activities include defence against microbial infection with activation of both innate and acquired arms of the immune system, resistance to the effects of toxic venoms and roles in wound healing.2 3 Conversely, they are implicated in the pathophysiology of many diverse diseases such as
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
Relevant Articles
- Airwaves
- Wisia Wedzicha
Thorax 2009 64: i.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
- Novel site-specific mast cell subpopulations in the human lung
- C K Andersson, M Mori, L Bjermer, C-G Löfdahl, and J S Erjefält
Thorax 2009 64: 297-305.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- Citation Map
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
