Mast Cells and Stress—A Psychoneuroimmunological Perspective

Many neuropsychiatric diseases still elude full understanding and effective therapy. It has become increasingly obvious that some of the prevailing explanations of their pathology are overly simplistic since only a small fraction of patients appear to be The complexity of interactions among neurotransmit- ters and neuromodulators in the brain continues to ex- pand. The involvement of immune molecules has added a new dimension. An important new contributor that is of interest to psychopharmacology is a unique cell, named “mast cell” by Paul Erlich in 1887 because its numerous metachromatic granules reminded him of a “well-fed cell” (German