title: Hydrocortisone and dexamethasone dose-dependently stabilize mast cells derived from rat peritoneum.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Besides their anti-inflammatory properties, corticosteroid drugs exert anti-allergic effects. Exocytosis of mast cells is electrophysiologically detected as the increase in the whole-cell membrane capacitance (Cm). Therefore, the lack of such increase after exposure to the drugs suggests their mast cell-stabilizing effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined the effects of 1, 10, 100 and 200μM hydrocortisone or dexamethasone on the degranulation from rat peritoneal mast cells. Employing the whole-cell patch-clamp recording technique, we also tested their effects on the Cm during exocytosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At relatively lower concentrations (1, 10μM), both hydrocortisone and dexamethasone did not significantly affect the degranulation from mast cells and the increase in the Cm induced by GTP-γ-S. Nevertheless, at higher doses (100, 200μM), these drugs inhibited the degranulation from mast cells and markedly suppressed the GTP-γ-S-induced increase in the Cm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results provided electrophysiological evidence for the first time that corticosteroid drugs, such as hydrocortisone and dexamethasone, inhibited the exocytotic process of mast cells in a dose-dependent manner. The mast cell-stabilizing effects of these drugs may be attributable to their "non-genomic" action, by which they exert rapid anti-allergic effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Tohoku University Hospital Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Nozomu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Tohoku University Hospital Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazutomo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Tohoku University Hospital Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Toyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Tohoku University Hospital Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Tohoku University Hospital Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ejima
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Tohoku University Hospital Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mushiake
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. Electronic address: kazaitsu@med.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Itsuro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kazama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D015550:Cell Degranulation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000494:pharmacology; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010537:Peritoneum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D003907:Dexamethasone; D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Dexamethasone; Exocytosis; Hydrocortisone; Mast cell-stabilizing effects; Mast cells; Membrane capacitance