ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: All known antihistaminics may affect several inflammatory events, including chemotaxis, the survival of eosinophils, and the release of chemokines and cytokines from different sources, thus highlighting the potential for modulating chronic inflammation and immune responses. The aim of the study was to examine the effect of H(1)-H(4) antihistaminic drugs in an acute model of casein-induced inflammation in rat. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Inflammation was induced by injection of a 12% solution of casein into the peritoneal cavity of male Wistar rats. The rats were treated intraperitoneally with pyrilamine maleate (10 mg/kg), cimetidine (25 mg/kg), thioperamide maleate (2 mg/kg) or ciproxifan hydrogen maleate (0.14 mg/kg) twice: 2 hours prior and 4 hours after casein administration. The level of histamine in blood and chemiluminescence of stimulated and unstimulated PMNs was measured. RESULTS: The level of histamine in the casein-induced inflammation group was higher than in the control group. Treatment with pyrilamine and ciproxifan additionally increased the level of blood histamine during the inflammatory response. Peripheral blood neutrophils from rats with casein-induced inflammation tended to respond less to zymosan stimulation than the neutrophils in the controls. Selective H(1) and H(3) antagonists injected into the rats with casein-induced inflammation significantly increased the response of the neutrophils to zymosan (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Histamine produced or released into the blood in the course of experimental inflammation exerts its effects on the PMN-s via stimulation of H(1) and H(3) receptors.
Subject(s)
Anti-Inflammatory Agents , Caseins , Histamine Antagonists/pharmacology , Inflammation/chemically induced , Inflammation/drug therapy , Animals , Histamine/blood , Histamine H1 Antagonists/pharmacology , Histamine H2 Antagonists/pharmacology , Histamine H3 Antagonists/pharmacology , Luminescence , Male , Neutrophils/drug effects , Neutrophils/metabolism , Rats , Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/antagonists & inhibitors , Receptors, Histamine , Receptors, Histamine H4ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Congenital heart malformations are risk factors that make children susceptible to infections resulting in inflammation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The concentration of histamine as a modulator of inflammation was quantified in pericardial fluid and expression of histamine H(4) receptor (H(4)R) and histamine-releasing factor (HRF) was determined at mRNA and protein levels. Samples of pericardium and pericardial fluid were obtained during cardiac reconstruction surgery in children. RESULTS: In children with pericarditis, increased levels of histamine were found and expression of H(4)R was localized on mast cells. Expression of HRF was independent of presence or absence of inflammation in pericardium and was localized within stationary epithelial cells. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that involvement of H4R in pericardial inflammation depends on penetration of mast cells into inflamed tissue, but HRF may not be directly involved in inflammatory reaction of the pericardium.
Subject(s)
Heart Defects, Congenital/complications , Heart Defects, Congenital/metabolism , Histamine/blood , Pericarditis/etiology , Pericarditis/metabolism , Pericardium/metabolism , Biomarkers, Tumor/biosynthesis , Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics , Child, Preschool , Heart Defects, Congenital/pathology , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Infant , Pericardial Effusion/metabolism , Pericarditis/pathology , Pericardium/pathology , RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis , RNA, Messenger/genetics , Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/biosynthesis , Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/genetics , Receptors, Histamine/biosynthesis , Receptors, Histamine/genetics , Receptors, Histamine H4 , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Tumor Protein, Translationally-Controlled 1ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Conventional physiotherapy (electrotherapy, magnetic fields), kinesitherapy, and whole-body cryotherapy (plus kinesitherapy) are used to relieve pain and inflammation or to improve function in rheumatic diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different physiotherapies and cryotherapy on biochemical blood parameters of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients with RA and 17 patients with OA received whole-body cryotherapy at -140 to -160 degrees C for 2 to 3 min, once daily for 4 weeks. The second group of patients (24 with RA and 28 with OA) received conventional physiotherapy for 4 weeks. We measured the parameters of neutrophil activation (respiratory burst, calprotectin) and markers of cartilage metabolism [N-acetyl-beta-D-hexosaminidase (NAHase), ectonucleotide pyrophosphohydrolase (NTPPHase)] twice: before and 3 months after cryotherapy or physiotherapy. RESULTS: We showed, for the first time, that cryotherapy significantly reduced (P < 0.001) histamine levels in the blood of patients with RA. The effect was long-lasting (for at least 3 months). The levels of blood histamine in patients with OA were not changed significantly. Cryotherapy also downregulated the respiratory burst of PMNs and NAHase activity and upregulated calprotectin levels and the activity of NTPPHase. However, these changes were not statistically significant. In contrast, there were no significant changes in histamine levels or the other biochemical parameters measured in groups of patients treated only with physiotherapy and kinesitherapy. CONCLUSION: It may be concluded that the beneficial clinical effects of cryotherapy in RA patients are in part due to the action on the production, release, or degradation of histamine.