Understanding mast cells

[Nikolaus]

An article by Dr. Theoharides helped me understand, what mast cells are. Here's an extract:

Mast cells technically belong to the immune system and they come from bone marrow. But, until about five years or so ago, we only thought that they were important for allergic reactions. I sometimes describe the cells to students as soccer balls filled with about 500 ping pong balls. Each ping pong ball contains about 30 important molecules and when these cells are stimulated (i.e. by an allergic reaction, for example) all of those molecules come out along with about ten more which are not inside the ping pong balls. These last ten are known as secretory granules and are made during the reaction.
All of these can cause detrimental effects, such as itching, difficulty breathing, pain, diarrhea, when they are released. In the bladder, they cause pain and inflammation, as well as frequency and urgency because some of the molecules released stimulate the local nerve endings which make you go to the bathroom. In addition, some molecules released act like meat tenderizers and destroy the lining of the bladder and, therefore, create additional problems since the bladder is not protected anymore.
This doesn't mean to say that the mast cell is the beginning and the end of IC but once they get stimulated, they continue to promote all of the problems regardless of what might have been originally the cause. So we took the approach that the best way to reduce IC symptoms, if not hopefully treat, would be to combine some drug that can inhibit mast cells along with something that might help the bladder create new lining.