title: Neovascularization and mast cells with tryptase activity increase simultaneously in human pterygium.
abstract: Mast cells (MC) have been implicated in both normal and pathological angiogenesis, such as that in chronic inflammatory diseases and tumors. This assumption is partially supported by the close structural association between MC and blood vessels and the recruitment of these cells during tumor growth. MC release a number of angiogenic factors among which tryptase, a serine protease stored in MC granules, is one of the most active. In this study, we correlate the extent of angiogenesis with the number of tryptase-reactive MC in tissue fragments from pterygium and normal bulbar conjunctiva investigated by immunohistochemistry, using two murine monoclonal antibodies against the endothelial cell marker CD31 and the MC marker tryptase. Angiogenesis, measured as microvessel density, was highly correlated with MC tryptase-positive cell count in pterygium tissues. These results suggest that the characteristic neovascularization observed in pterygium may be sustained, at least in part, by MC angiogenic mediators, in particular tryptase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, University of Bari Medical School, Bari, Italy. ribatti@anatomia.uniba.it
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ribatti
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nico
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maxia
authors.forename: Vito
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Murtas
authors.forename: Domenica
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mangieri
authors.forename: M Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Perra
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Giorgis
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Piras
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crivellato
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sirigu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002452:Cell Count; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000201:enzymology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000276:immunology; D011625:Pterygium / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology*; D053802:Tryptases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D053802:Tryptases