Correspondece: Hiroko Sugaya
Hiroko SUGAYA
Tatsuya, ABE
kentaro YOSHIMURA
Department of Parasitology, Akita University School of Medicine, Hondo, Akita 010, Japan.
Koichiro KAWAMURA
Second Department of Pathology, Akita University School of Medicine, Hondo, Akita 010, Japan.
Abstract
Ultrastructural morphological changes of the granules of mucosal mast cells (MMC) in the intestinal mucosa was examined in mice either infected with Strongyloides ratti or treated with IL-3. MMC of normal mice had round- or oval-shped granules. On day 7 post-infection (PI), granules of some, but not all, MMC began to deform into polygonal shpes and showed paracrystalline structures. On day 9 to 14 PI, when intestinal worms were expelled from mice, MMC granules frequently fuse each other to form large paracrystalline strucuture (rhomboid- or rod-shaped), and thier matrix portions finally disappeared. Such sequential changes were commonly seen in MMC in the epithelial layer and those in the lamina propria. Some MMC, located nearby the intestianl lumina contained numerous fine paracrystalline stractures dispersed in the cytoplasm. MMC induced by IL-3 administration for 7 to 14 days showed granules changes similar to those observed on day 9 and 14 PI. Sequential changes of granule morphology in MMC e.g., paracrystallization and subsequent disperseon, is possibly associated with the mediator relase of MMC.
Key wors: mucosal mast cells; granules; paracrystallization; Strongyloides ratti; IL-3; mouse.