STUDIES ON THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE OF THE COCK COMB. III. MAST CELLS AND THE EFFECT OF TESTOSTERONE

Abstract

Although the most obvious structural changes of the comb in response to androgen stimulation take place extracellularly (Champy, 1926, Hardesty, 1931, Ludwig & Boas, 1950, Rizzoli & Rondinini, 1950, Szirmai, 1949, 1954, 1956 b), it seems likely that this process, in one way or another, also involves cellular activity. In several »steroid sensitive connective tissues« (Szirmai, 1954) the accumulation of the ground substance has been found to be accompanied by swelling and enlargement of the fibroblasts (Hardesty, 1931, Aykroyd & Zuckerman, 1938). Alkaline phosphatase activity in the connective tissue cells during testosterone treatment of young chickens has been reported by Ludwig & Boas (1950) and Rizzoli & Rondinini (1950). Using histochemical techniques as well as biochemical assay, we found no significant alkaline phosphatase activity in the comb of testosterone-treated capons (Szirmai, 1949). Ludwig & Boas (1950) and Schiller, Benditt & Dorfman (1952) observed cellular proliferation in young chickens receiving androgen treatment. We found significant mitotic activity in the connective tissue of the comb of young cockerels only during the first few weeks of normal development; later, when the accumulation of the metachromatic ground substance starts, the mitotic activity decreases (Szirmai, 1956 b). Similarly, in the case of testosterone-treated capons, no cell divisions could be observed. Since the main phenomenon of the »expansion growth« is the accumulation and subsequent hydration of the ground substance in the connective tissue of the comb, it may well be asked how the cells in this tissue are eventually concerned in the formation of the ground substance. Fibroblasta have been held responsible for this process, but without definite proof (Garrault, 1934, Hardesty, 1931). It has been suggested by Aykroyd & Zuckerman (1938) that mast cells play a role in the formation of the ground substance in the sex skin of the monkey. Recently Klenermun (1955) described cyclical variations in the cell population of the perineal connective tissue in the female baboon, including changes in the morphology and numerical distribution of mast cells. Mast cells have occasionally been observed in the rooster comb (Rommeney, 1934, Szirmai, 1949), although Fernández Morán (1943) states that such an occurrence is exceptional.