W. Hardjowasito, A. Basuki
The role of mast cells in wound healing in a racial group of Proto Malay people living in Timor, Indonesia was studied. The relationship between fine scar formation after cleft lip reconstruction surgery, the growing evidence of micronutrient zinc deficiency in the region and an unusual number of mast cells distributed in the skin compared with a racial group of Deutero Malay people living in Malang, East Java, Indonesia was explored. It has been suggested that a possible role of mast cells, in a zinc deficient area, is that they accumulate zinc to compensate for the deficiency and to provide the necessary amount for better wound healing. Further investigations are still under way to give a more sound understanding of mast cells as zinc carriers.
Department of Surgery, Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Medical Faculty Brawijaya University, Malang 65111, Jln JA Suprapto 2, Indonesia
