In vitro studies on mast cell proliferation in N. brasiliensis infection.

We have previously shown that mast cells with the morphological and biochemical properties of mucosal mast cells (MMC) proliferate and mature in rat bone marrow cultures stimulated with factors from antigen or mitogen-activated T lymphocytes. Here we have used this system to explore the MMC hyperplasia which occurs in infections with gastrointestinal nematode parasites. Lymphocytes producing MMC-growth factor were present from day 10 onwards in N. brasiliensis-infected rats and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) were the major source of activated lymphocytes. When different tissues of normal rats were cultured in the presence of conditioned medium by far the greatest proliferation of MMC occurred in bone marrow, indicating an origin of MMC from haemopoietic precursors. Cultures of infected rat bone marrow yielded considerably greater numbers of MMC than cultures of normal rat bone marrow and experiments using semisolid culture media indicated that N. brasiliensis infection causes an increase in the frequency of MMC progenitors in the bone marrow. A scheme is put forward for the sequence of events occurring in vivo based on the results of these and other published experiments. The reasons for the restricted in vivo localization of MMC to the mucous membranes and associated lymph nodes is discussed. Finally we give the results of microspectrophotometric analysis which has shown that the cultured mast cell contain a non-heparin proteoglycan, thus adding a further feature to the list of MMC-like properties of these cells.