Mast cells in the human brain

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Abstract
Mast cells, as adjudged by the metachromatic staining of their cytoplasmic granules, were found in 79% of the 97 human brains studied. They were most numerous and most consistently present in the infundibulum, pineal organ, area postrema and choroid plexuses. They were also numerous in the leptomeninges surrounding the pineal organ and infundibulum. Occasional mast cells were also seen within the supraoptic crest, the subfornical organ, the ventricles and the leptomeninges at sites other than over the infundibulum and pineal organ. They were not detectable elsewhere in the brain or spinal cord. In the infundibulum, pineal organ, area postrema and telencephalic choroid plexuses mast cells were most numerous in young individuals (i.e., 0–19 years of age); thereafter, their numbers progressively decreased with aging. Elsewhere mast cell numbers remained about the same with aging. Except in the area postrema where mast cells were more numerous and more consistently present in males, sex-related differences in mast cell number or distribution were not detected. No differences in either the abundance, the distribution or the percentage of individuals possessing mast cells at any of these sites were apparent between ‘normative’ brains, lesioned brains (‘stroke1, lobotomy, etc.) or those from individuals with either congenital or acquired encephalopathies.