ON TISSUE MAST CELLS IN BIOPSIED LYMPH NODES

Physiologically tissue mast cells play an important role to maintain human body well by storing and discharging histamine and serotonin. On the other hand, it has been said that tissue mast cells take part in chronic inflammatory disease. There has been many reports on the behaviors of tissue mast cells in various disorders.<BR>The author studies on tissue mast cells of surgically biopsied lymph nodes in 871 cases of various disorders from Oct. 1957 to Dec. 1967 in Showa University Hospital. The results obtained were as follows;<BR>1. The number of tissus mast cells in the so-called normal lymph nodes was 542.13± 220.05/cm². Their distributions in normal lymph nodes have the tendency of relative abundance in the capsule and medullary sinus.<BR>2. In cases of nonspecific lymphadenopathy, the number of tissue mast cells was 746.30±141.44/cm². The histopathological appearance of the satellite lymph nodes was influenced greatly by the primary lesion. For example, there were a lot of tissue mast cells in the regional lymph nodes draining the chronic gastric ulcer.<BR>3. In the tuberculous lympnadenitis there was relative increase of tissue mast cells more than in lymph nodes of nonspecific lymphadenitis.<BR>4. On the number of tissue mast cells in the lymph nodes with cancer metastasis there were great difference according to the deree of metastasis. There were many mast cells in the lymph nodes with metastasis only in the perilymph nodal area. And then there were fewer tissue mast cells in lymph nodes without any metastasis, metastasis only in cortical sinus, in the medullary sinus and widely destroyed lymph nodes with cancer. Generally speaking on the primary lesions, there was constantly remarkable increase of tissue mast cells in the negional lymph nodes draining the cancer of breast.<BR>5. In the metastatic lymph nodes, there was no deffinite findings that tissue mast cells were apt to increase around the cancerous lesion.<BR>6. In cases of malignant lymphoma the nuber of tissue mast cells is 228.31±95.44/cm², that is, there are great decrease of tissue mast cells in the destroyed lymph nodes with tumor cells whether they are primary or metastatic lesions.<BR>7. Judging from the physiopharmacological study on tissue mast cells there are many report about so-called “defence capacity” of tissue mast cells. Upon this problem further investigations will be needed.