Increased Production of Prostaglandin D2 in Patients with Systemic Mastocytosis

SYSTEMIC mastocytosis is a disorder of unknown origin, characterized by abnormal proliferation of tissue mast cells involving various organs and associated with a variety of clinical symptoms and signs. 1 Episodic attacks of flushing, frequently accompanied by hypotension and tachycardia, are a predominant manifestation of systemic mastocytosis, which at times can result in life-threatening shock. Although the symptoms of mastocytosis have generally been attributed to the release of histamine from mast cells, only partial amelioration of symptoms has been described in the few isolated case reports on the effects of histamine-antagonist therapy of this disorder. 2 , 3 After the recent demonstration that combined . . .