MAST-CELLS IN ELASTIC CARTILAGE OF THE HUMAN EPIGLOTTIS

Light and transmission electron microscopy revealed in the elastic car tilage of the human epiglottis the presence of mast cells. Cytoplasmic granules of these cells contain characteristic cylindrical bodies, wh ose texture is different from that found in cytoplasmic granules of ma st cells from other sites. The presence of mast cells in elastic carti lage, described for the first time, and the different substructure of their cytoplasmic granules, is considered as another proof of the hete rogeneity of that cell type.