Mast Cell Activation Disorders On the Rise

Mast Cell Activation Disorders On the Rise

http://www.medpagetoday.com/resource-center/anaphylaxis/mast-cells/a/37978


Probably, this is yet another manifestation of antibiotic-induced chronic fungal infections

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374363/#!po=40.7895

Fungal infection in the gastrointestinal tract

The gastrointestinal tract is one of the preferred sites for MCs to localize, and, in contrast to skin MCs, the number of MCs can rapidly and markedly expand during the course of an infection in the gut; this allows for a high degree of interaction between MCs and gut flora (Mikkelsen, 2010). Candida colonization is associated with several diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, e.g., Crohn’s disease (Rehaume et al., 2010), ulcerative colitis (Zwolinska-Wcislo et al., 2009), and gastric ulcers (Hirasaki et al., 1999). Furthermore, results from animal models suggest that Candida colonization can delay healing of inflammatory lesions and that inflammation promotes colonization as a positive feedback mechanism. As far as the role of MCs in the gastrointestinal tract is concerned, a single report suggests that gastrointestinal Candida colonization promotes sensitization against food antigens, at least partly due to Master-Cleanse mediated hyper permeability of the gastrointestinal mucosa of mice (Yamaguchi et al., 2006). Although it is quite probable that MCs interact with fungi in the intestinal tract and that MCs can play an important role in host cell defense against gastrointestinal fungal infections, these issues remain to be clarified by future research.