NUMERICAL DISTRIBUTION OF MAST CELLS IN THE HUMAN SKIN AND HEART

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Abstract
The no. of mast cells per cu. mm. was estimated by counting them in representative microscopic fields in histological sections from skin of the abdomen, calf and back of the foot, and from various parts of the heart. The material was obtained at autopsy from 40 human subjects ranging in age from birth to 83 yrs. In the skin the no. decreased from about 7000 at birth to about 1000 at the age of 70-80 yrs. In the heart the no. is very low up to the age of 2 yrs. after which it rapidly increases to about 500 and then declines to about 100 at the age of 80 yrs. In subjects below 40 yrs. the no. is higher for women than for men. The morphology of the mast cell is descr. Cells with strikingly poor metachromasia of the granules are observed more frequently in old than in young subjects.