RAT BRAIN MAST CELLS: CHARACTERIZATION, QUANTIFICATION, AND RELATIONSHIP TO BRAIN HISTAMINE.
Item
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Title
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RAT BRAIN MAST CELLS: CHARACTERIZATION, QUANTIFICATION, AND RELATIONSHIP TO BRAIN HISTAMINE.
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Identifier
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AAI8515629
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identifier
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8515629
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Creator
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GOLDSCHMIDT, ROBERT C.
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Contributor
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Lindsay B. Hough
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Date
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1985
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Biology, Neuroscience
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Abstract
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The histological, histochemical and biochemical properties of mast cells (MCs) in rat brain were investigated. Brain MCs stained with aqueous toluidine blue (pH 2.3) and Astrablau (pH 1), and were morphologically similar to tongue MCs. Brain MCs also fluoresced after exposure to gaseous o-phthalaldehyde, indicating the presence of histamine (HA).;Brain MCs were almost exclusively (98%) within thalamus, where they exhibited a striking anterior-posterior distribution and large variation in number (210-31, 930 MCs per thalamus). Thalamic MC numbers were significantly greater in females than in males (P < 0.02) and in left hemisphere than in right (P < 0.005).;MC numbers, HA levels and tele-methylhistamine levels (tMH, a HA metabolite) were analyzed from the same brain tissue. Thalamic MC numbers were highly correlated with both the amount (ng) and the concentration (ng/g) of thalamic HA in both sexes (P < 0.0005). Slopes of these regression lines, suggestive of the HA content of thalamic MCs, were 2.5 and 1.3 pg/cell in males and females, respectively, substantially less than the HA levels in peritoneal MCs. Thalamic MC numbers were not correlated with HA (ng) outside of thalamus, but were significantly (P < 0.003) correlated with whole brain HA amounts (ng) and levels (ng/g). These correlations indicate that thalamic MCs contribute up to 90% of the HA in thalamus, and up to 50% of whole brain HA levels. Freezing of brain tissue before dissection (necessary to estimate MC numbers and HA levels in the same brain) had no effect on regional HA levels.;Thalamic MC numbers were significantly correlated (P < 0.01) with the amount (ng) of tMH in thalamus, but not with thalamic tMH concentrations (ng/g). The slopes of the regression lines suggest that brain MCs contain 0.1 pg tMH per cell in both sexes, about 5% of the HA content. However, partial correlation analysis indicates that thalamic tMH levels are not directly related to MC numbers, but rather are related to thalamic non-MC HA levels. Thalamic MC numbers were not correlated with non-thalamic or whole brain tMH.;These results indicate that rat brain MCs are histologically similar to peripheral MCs, and that these cells contribute directly to HA but not tMH levels in brain.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Biomedical Sciences
