Abstract
The influence of azelastine (AZ) on murine mast cell induction was examined by in vitro cell culture techniques. Splenocytes from normal BALB/c mice suspended in RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with interleukin-3 were cultured in the presence or absence of AZ. The number of mast cells increased gradually with culture time and reached a peak on the 16th day when cells were cultured without AZ. The addition of 1.0μg/mL AZ to the culture medium resulted in complete suppression of mast cell growth, but a lower concentration of AZ (0.5μg/mL) had no demonstrable effects on the growth of mast cells. Azelastine induced apoptotic cell death in mast cells when cells were cultured in the presence of 1.0μg/mL AZ for more than 24h. However, this apoptosis-inducing activity of AZ was not observed in either eosinophils or neutrophils that were obtained from mouse peritoneal cavity.
