Histamine and the Blood

Abstract

In the early 1930s, many investigators attempted to measure the histamine levels in whole blood, and to study the distribution of histamine in the plasma and blood cells. In 1937, Code reported that the majority of histamine in human blood was detected in the leucocytes; later, it was found that about 50% of the histamine in whole blood exists in the basophils (Graham et al. 1955). Since then, researchers have come to believe that basophils are important storage sites of histamine in the blood. In 1953, Riley and West found that abundant histamine exists in mast cells and that these cells are the major source of histamine in the tissue. It became apparent that the histamine content in basophils was considerably less than that in mast cells. However, there are some analogies between basophils and mast cells, especially with regard to the release of histamine during anaphylactic reactions. Other important effects of histamine appear in the eosinophils and lymphocytes. It is known that the eosinophils are in some way related to mast cells in the tissue, particularly regarding immediate hypersensitivity. Histamine modulated a variety of lymphocyte functions which are considered to be important in regulating immune reactions.