Why are mast cells important to allergic reactions like asthma?
Mast cells play a vital role in allergic reactions, including asthma. Mast cells are primed by past experience with allergens– like pollen or cat hair or diesel exhaust– to release inflammatory agents into tissues and fluids. That release is the cause of the allergic reaction, for example, an inflammation. When provoked by a potential allergen, if the mast cell has been primed to react to that specific allergen it will “degranulate,” meaning that the agents, molecules like cytokines and histamine, are released. The more intense the degranulation, the stronger the allergic reaction. Hence if exposure to a chemical increases degranulation, it can cause allergic reactions to be stronger than they normally would be, or even cause them when none normally would have occurred.
