Role of the mast cell in the pulmonary pressor response to hypoxia.

This study investigated the role of the mast cell in the pulmonary arterial pressor response to hypoxia. We found that pulmonary arteries 50-500 mu in diameter have a predictable distribution of perivascular mast cells; that such pulmonary mast cells are degranulated in vivo during alveolar hypoxia; that hypoxia releases histamine from mast cells isolated from the peritoneal cavity without apparent injury to the cells; and that histamine is released from the lung of intact guinea pigs during alveolar hypoxia, with the rise in pulmonary vascular resistance during this period proportional to the amount of histamine released. These data point to the perivascular pulmonary mast cell in the rat and guinea pig as an important structure in the mediation of the pulmonary pressor response to hypoxia, even though the responsible humoral vasoconstrictor released from such a cell may not be histamine, or histamine alone.