Effect of trichosanthin on mast cell degranulation and histamine release and its relationship with complement activation / 中国免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

The effect of trichosanthin on mast cell degranulation and histamine release were observed with both Alcian blue staining method and fluorescent histamine determination method. It was showed that, ① in vitro trichosanthin showed no direct effect on the mast cell degranulation and histamine release even in the presence of fresh serum; ② in vivo administration on of trichosanthin in mice could cause significant mast cell degranulation and histamine release in inflammatory situ, as shown by the decreased number of Alcian blue stained nondegranulated mast cell in the peritoneal cavities; ③ intra peritoneal injection of trichosanthin in Wistar rats could significantly increase histamine level in the whole blood, while inducing prominent exudation of protein into the peritoneal cavities; ④ the supernatant of peritoneal exudate lavaged 12 hours after trichosanthin injection could cause mast cell degranulation. These results implicate that, although it showed no direct effect on mast cells, trichosanthin could cause mast cell to degranulate and release histamine via in vivo activation of some soluble mast cell degranulating factors. It was discovered in further study that the depletion of complement by cobra venom factor injection revealed no effect on the production of mast cell degranulation factor, suggesting that, in normal animals, the trichosanthininduced complement activation had no significant influence on the mast cell degranulation and histamine release.