ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2008
Brain mast cells link the immune system to anxiety-like behavior.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies on the Association of Chronic Urticaria With Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety.Frontiers in medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Masitinib treatment in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis: a randomized pilot study.BMC neurology · 2012Trial
- Depression in patients with mastocytosis: prevalence, features and effects of masitinib therapy.PloS one · 2011Trial
- Mast Cells in the Developing Brain.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Review
- Chronic allergic lung inflammation is associated with brain mast cell-mediated suppression of neuronal activity and behavioral changes in mice.Respiratory research · 2026Article
- Investigating Properties of Palmitoylethanolamide in Physiology and Disease: Far Beyond an Anti-Inflammatory Shield.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Sex differences in self-reported symptoms and comorbidities associated with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorders: A retrospective study.Research square · 2026Article
- The Role of Mast Cells and Their Potential as a Therapeutic Target For Neuroinflammation.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Review
- Is histamine intolerance a treatable subtype of fibromyalgia? evidence and clinical implications-narrative review.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Developmental PBDE exposure persistently impairs mast cell function in vivo and drives sex-specific morphological and transcriptional changes in bone marrow-derived mast cells.Environmental research · 2026Article
- Article
- Anxiety and nonpsychotic mental disorders in acute urticaria.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Immune control of brain physiology.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2025Review
- Maternal IgE Influence on Fetal and Infant Health.Immunological reviews · 2025Review
- CD4Neurobiology of stress · 2024Article
- Does chronic urticaria affect quality of sleep and quality of life?Journal of public health research · 2024Article
- Role of Serotonergic System in Regulating Brain Tumor-Associated Neuroinflammatory Responses.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Mast cell deficiency improves cognition and enhances disease-associated microglia in 5XFAD mice.Cell reports · 2023Article
- Article
29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Mast cells are resident in the brain and contain numerous mediators, including neurotransmitters, cytokines, and chemokines, that are released in response to a variety of natural and pharmacological triggers. The number of mast cells in the brain fluctuates with stress and various behavioral and endocrine states. These properties suggest that mast cells are poised to influence neural systems underlying behavior. Using genetic and pharmacological loss-of-function models we performed a behavioral screen for arousal responses including emotionality, locomotor, and sensory components. We found that mast cell deficient Kit(W-sh/W-sh) (sash(-/-)) mice had a greater anxiety-like phenotype than WT and heterozygote littermate control animals in the open field arena and elevated plus maze. Second, we show that blockade of brain, but not peripheral, mast cell activation increased anxiety-like behavior. Taken together, the data implicate brain mast cells in the modulation of anxiety-like behavior and provide evidence for the behavioral importance of neuroimmune links.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.