This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Fred M. Atkins, MD; Richard A. F. Clark, MD

Arch Dermatol. 1987;123(2):191-193.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

The development of staining techniques for histologic sections led to the initial definitive description of mast cells by a medical student named Paul Ehrlich over 100 years ago. Although other investigators, including von Recklinhausen,¹ had previously described granular cells in the connective tissues of unstained tissue sections, the young Ehrlich was the first to recognize a distinct subset of cells containing granules that stained red or violet when treated with a blue basic aniline dye, dahlia.² Thus the metachromatic nature of these cytoplasmic granules drew Ehrlich's attention. He believed that cells containing these granules were "overfed," and thus he referred to them as Mastzellen (in German, masten = to fatten). Ehrlich published in his doctoral thesis³ the astute observations that connective tissue mast cells often surrounded nerves, blood vessels, and glandular ducts, and that mast cell numbers were increased in certain sites of inflammation and neoplasia. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine 1400 Jackson St Denver, CO 80206

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?