In 1922, Shipley & Park described basophilic tissue cells near the trabeculae of bone in rats fed a calcium deficient rachitic diet. Subsequently, they were identified as mast cells by Urist & McLean (1957) who considered that the contents of mast cells might play a role in bone resorption and formation.
In this papers, the effects of long term low dose EHDP administration on the distribution and number of bone marrow mast cell in female wistar rats were studied. EHDP was given at a dose of 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 5.0mg/kg daily for six months. A remarkable decrease in numbers of mast cells was found in rats treated with 0.1, 0.5mg/kg/day EHDP. A slight increase was found in rats with 5.0mg/kg/day EHDP. The mast cell concentration adjoining the epiphysis was near the trabeculae and cortex of bone.
