ACUTE INFLAMMATION AND TISSUE MAST CELLS IN ADRENALECTOMIZED RATS WITH CUTANEOUS MUCORMYCOSIS

The effects of the absence of adrenal tissues on the inflammatory reaction and on the relationship of the tissue mast cells to the inflammatory process have been studied histologically in rats with cutaneous Rhizopus oryzae infection. Degranulation and regranulation of the tissue mast cells at the site of injury have been found to correlate respectively with the onset and subsidence of the exudative cellular phase of inflammation. In the adrenalectomized animals regranulation of these cells and correspondingly termination of the exudative phase are delayed. In the lesions of these rats the numbers of eosinophiles are increased. The proliferative cellular processes of inflammation, although delayed in onset, progress in essentially normal manner but result in some increased collagen deposition. The lack of adrenal secretions does not enhance fungus proliferation and is not associated with spread of the infection. In the present experiments the effectiveness of inflammation does not differ in normal and adrenalectomized rats.