What are mast cells?

Of the millions of cells that make up our bodies, one type known as mast cells has an important role in asthma and other allergic reactions. One way to think of a mast cell is as resembling a soccer ball filled with many ping pong balls. The real mast cell membrane, in fact, encloses many molecular sized toxins (the ping pong balls) that are secreted when mast cells are activated by a trigger, which often is some type of allergen. More recently, mast cells have become implicated in inflamed joints and in many painful inflammatory conditions such as interstitial cystitis, mastocytosis, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines and possibly multiple sclerosis.