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Histamine concentrations in nasal secretion and secretory activity in allergic rhinitis
Author(s) -
Linder A.,
Strandberg K.,
Deuschl H.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.363
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1398-9995
pISSN - 0105-4538
DOI - 10.1111/j.1398-9995.1987.tb02370.x
Subject(s) - histamine , secretion , allergen , nasal provocation test , mucous membrane of nose , medicine , immunology , endocrinology , allergy , chemistry
The prerequisites for using the assayed histamine concentration in nasal secretion as an objective measure of disease activity in allergic rhinitis were investigated. It was demonstrated that in histamine determination procedures the presence of quenching substances in the nasal secretion could lead to underestimation of the histamine concentration. This bias was eliminated in a modified spectrofluorometric assay. Only an insignificant fraction of the histamine in samples collected by nasal spray washing was bound to unfiltrable particles or cells. The mean histamine concentration in nasal secretions from 15 healthy subjects wss 11.2 μg/ml and in a group of nine patients with allergic rhinitis out of season 3.36 μg/ml. The histamine concentration in the latter group decreased during the pollen season and after positive allergen challenge. It is suggested that this decrease is caused by the increase in volume of the secretion during the allergic response. The use of lithium as an exogenous marker permitted quantitation of the increase in the relative amount of nasal secretion recovered by washing in the symptomatic subjects.