Damsgaard T E, Nielsen B W, Henriques U, Hansen B, Herlin T, Schiøtz P O
Department of Pediatrics, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 1996 May;7(2):83-90. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3038.1996.tb00111.x.
The cellular branch of the immune defence in the newborn has been shown to differ from adults in a number of ways. This report presents new data on the functions of the histamine-secreting cells of the newborn. Mast cells of the newborn were obtained from the human umbilical cord by enzymatic dispersion. The granules of the mast cells of the umbilical cord were found to contain both chymase and tryptase by immunohistochemical staining, and the presence of cell-bound IgE on the mast cell surface was demonstrated by staining sections of umbilical cord with peroxidase-conjugated anti-IgE. The enzymatic dispersion yielded 12,660 mast cells per gram umbilical cord (median), range 2,500-60,300 (n = 48). The mast cells were found to constitute 3.1% of the total nucleated cells in the dispersate (median), range 1.5-3.8%. The histamine release from these cells was measured using a glass microfibre-based method. Both the umbilical cord mast cells and the cord blood basophils released histamine stimulated with anti-IgE, concanavalin A and the calcium ionophore A23187. In contrast to mast cells from adult tissue, the phorbol ester TPA was found to be an efficient secretagogue in both mast cells and basophils from the newborn. After maximal stimulation with anti-IgE and phorbol ester the quantity of histamine released per millilitre of blood was significantly higher in cord blood than in adult blood. The spontaneous histamine release from cord blood basophils was also significantly higher than from adult blood basophils. The mast cells found in the umbilical cord matrix and the cord blood basophils represent a readily available source of metabolically active histamine releasing cells for exploration of the role of histamine-secreting cells in newborn immune defence.
新生儿免疫防御的细胞分支已被证明在许多方面与成年人不同。本报告提供了关于新生儿组胺分泌细胞功能的新数据。新生儿的肥大细胞通过酶分散法从人脐带中获得。通过免疫组织化学染色发现脐带肥大细胞的颗粒中同时含有糜酶和胰蛋白酶，并且通过用过氧化物酶偶联的抗IgE对脐带切片进行染色，证明肥大细胞表面存在细胞结合IgE。酶分散法每克脐带产生12,660个肥大细胞（中位数），范围为2,500 - 60,300（n = 48）。发现肥大细胞占分散液中总核细胞的3.1%（中位数），范围为1.5 - 3.8%。使用基于玻璃微纤维的方法测量这些细胞的组胺释放。脐带肥大细胞和脐带血嗜碱性粒细胞在用抗IgE、伴刀豆球蛋白A和钙离子载体A23187刺激后均释放组胺。与成年组织的肥大细胞不同，佛波酯TPA被发现是新生儿肥大细胞和嗜碱性粒细胞的有效促分泌剂。在用抗IgE和佛波酯进行最大刺激后，脐带血中每毫升血液释放的组胺量明显高于成年血液。脐带血嗜碱性粒细胞的自发组胺释放也明显高于成年血液嗜碱性粒细胞。在脐带基质中发现的肥大细胞和脐带血嗜碱性粒细胞是代谢活跃的组胺释放细胞的现成来源，可用于探索组胺分泌细胞在新生儿免疫防御中的作用。
