title: Pavlovian conditioning of rat mucosal mast cells to secrete rat mast cell protease II.
abstract: Antigen (egg albumin) injections, which stimulate mucosal mast cells to secrete mediators, were paired with an audiovisual cue. After reexposure to the audiovisual cue, a mediator (rat mast cell protease II) was measured with a sensitive and specific assay. Animals reexposed to only the audiovisual cue released a quantity of protease not significantly different from animals reexposed to both the cue and the antigen; these groups released significantly more protease than animals that had received the cue and antigen in a noncontingent manner. The results support a role for the central nervous system as a functional effector of mast cell function in the allergic state.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: MacQueen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perdue
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bienenstock
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology; D010047:Ovalbumin; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D051381:Rats; D012016:Reference Values; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010047:Ovalbumin; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; C057818:cytotoxic T lymphocyte-specific serine protease