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Histamine pharmacology: from Sir Henry Dale to the 21st century
Author(s) -
Tiligada Ekaterini,
Ennis Madeleine
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
british journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.432
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1476-5381
pISSN - 0007-1188
DOI - 10.1111/bph.14524
Subject(s) - clinical pharmacology , histamine , molecular pharmacology , pharmacology , histamine receptor , g protein coupled receptor , inverse agonist , medicine , agonist , neuroscience , receptor , biology , antagonist
Histamine has been one of the most studied substances in medicine, playing a major role in diverse (patho)physiological processes. It elicits its multifaceted modulatory functions by activating four types of GPCRs, designated as H 1-4 . Despite the heterogeneity and the complexity of histamine receptor pharmacology, many discoveries over the past 100 years resulted in the development of H 1 antihistamines and H 2 -targeting 'blockbuster' therapeutics for the management of allergies and gastrointestinal disorders respectively. Recently, a first-in-class H 3 inverse agonist was approved for the treatment of narcolepsy, whereas H 4 antagonists are under clinical evaluation for their potential therapeutic exploitation in immune-related diseases. This review critically presents the past successes and drawbacks in histamine research, complemented by the modern conceptual innovations in molecular and receptor pharmacology. It targets both young and experienced researchers in an ongoing effort to stimulate novel insights for the dissection of the translational potential of histamine pharmacology. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on New Uses for 21st Century. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v177.3/issuetoc.