Effects of iron supplementation on IgE-mediated mast cell degranulation, cytokine production, and total granule content.

<p><b>A</b>. Supplementation with iron decreased degranulation of primary BMMC by 30% (*indicates p = 0.01). Data shown is the mean ± SEM of 4 experiments. <b>B, C</b>. In duplicate experiments, iron supplementation decreased mast cell production of TNF, MCP-1, and IL-6 by 94%, 29%, and 27%, respectively. An MTS assay confirmed continued viability of the BMMC (not shown). <b>D, E</b>. RBL-2H3 mast cells showed a dose-dependent reduction in total granule contents per cell with iron supplementation, as indicated by β-hexoseaminidase activity following lysis with Triton X-100 (panel D) and flow cytometric analysis of side scatter (panel E). Data shown represents the mean ± SEM of 3 − 4 independent experiments, each conducted in triplicate. *indicates p≤0.02.