Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Neuroscience Bulletin logoLink to Neuroscience Bulletin
. 2010 Jun 3;26(3):219–224. doi: 10.1007/s12264-010-1126-6

Effects of sympathetic histamine on vasomotor responses of blood vessels in rabbit ear to electrical stimulation

交感神经源性组胺释放对电刺激条件下兔耳血管舒缩功能的影响

Ying-Ying Chen 1, Jun Lv 1, Xiao-Yan Xue 1, Gong-Hao He 1, Ying Zhou 1, Min Jia 1, Xiao-Xing Luo 1,✉
PMCID: PMC5560296  PMID: 20502501

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the effects of histamine receptor antagonists on vasoconstriction induced by electrical stimulation (ES) on posterior auricular nerve, and to explore the pre- and post-synaptic effects of sympathetic histamine on the vasomotor responses of vascular smooth muscle in rabbit ear.

Methods

ES was applied to posterior auricular nerves of the whole rabbit ear at 10 Hz, 20 Hz and 40 Hz, respectively. Besides, the whole ear was perfused with different histamine receptor antagonists under constant perfusion pressure, and the changes in the flow rate of perfusate were observed.

Results

The flow rate of venous outflow was decreased by ES at all the 3 frequencies. The ES-induced vasoconstriction at 20 Hz and 40 Hz could be partly inhibited by H1 receptor antagonist chlorpheniramine (P < 0.05). After exhaustion of histamine in mast cells by pretreatment with specific mast cell degranulator compound 48/80, chlorpheniramine could still inhibit the ES-induced flow rate reduction. In contrast, H2 receptor antagonist cimetidine could enhance the 40-Hz ES-induced flow rate reduction (P < 0.05). Moreover, ES-induced vasoconstriction at the 3 frequencies could all be enhanced by H3 receptor antagonist thioperamide (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Stimulation on the auricular nerve may evoke histamine release from sympathetic nerves rather than from mast cells. Moreover, the functions of sympathetic histamine vary from pre-synaptic modulation to post-synaptic vasoconstriction or vasodilatation, via activation of different histamine receptors.

Keywords: sympathetic nervous system, histamine, histamine receptors, blood vessels

References

  • [1].Carroll P.R., Glover W.E., Latt N. Cardiovascular histamine receptors in the rabbit. Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci. 1974;52:577–582. doi: 10.1038/icb.1974.55. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [2].Malinowska B., Godlewski G., Schlicker E. Histamine H3 receptors—general characterization and their function in the cardiovascular system. J Physiol Pharmacol. 1998;49:191–211. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [3].Ehinger B. Uptake of histamine or histamine metabolites into sympathetic noradrenergic axons. Acta Physiol Scand. 1974;90:218–225. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1974.tb05580.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [4].Godlewski G., Malinowska B., Buczko W., Schlicker E. Inhibitory H3 receptors on sympathetic nerves of the pithed rat: activation by endogenous histamine and operation in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 1997;355:261–266. doi: 10.1007/PL00004941. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [5].Wang G.Q., Sun W.P., Zhu Y.J., Zou R., Zhou X.P. H1 and H2 receptors in the locus ceruleus are involved in the intracere-broventricular histamine-induced carotid sinus baroreceptor reflex resetting in rats. Neurosci Bull. 2006;22:209–215. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [6].Christian E.P., Weinreich D. Presynaptic histamine H1 and H3 receptors modulate sympathetic ganglionic synaptic transmission in the guinea-pig. J Physiol. 1992;457:407–430. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1992.sp019385. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [7].Silver R.B., Poonwasi K.S., Seyedi N., Wilson S.J., Lovenberg T.W., Levi R. Decreased intracellular calcium mediates the histamine H3-receptor-induced attenuation of norepinephrine exocytosis from cardiac sympathetic nerve endings. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002;99:501–506. doi: 10.1073/pnas.012506099. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [8].Ikoma A., Steinhoff M., Ständer S., Yosipovitch G., Schmelz M. The neurobiology of itch. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2006;7:535–547. doi: 10.1038/nrn1950. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [9].Cannon K.E., Chazot P.L., Hann V., Shenton F., Hough L.B., Rice F.L. Immunohistochemical localization of histamine H3 receptors in rodent skin, dorsal root ganglia, superior cervical ganglia, and spinal cord: potential antinociceptive targets. Pain. 2007;129:76–92. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2006.09.039. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [10].Li M., Hu J., Chen T., Meng J., Ma X., Li J., et al. Histamine in Macaca mulatto monkey cardiac sympathetic nerve system: a morphological and functional assessment. Auton Neurosci. 2007;137:37–43. doi: 10.1016/j.autneu.2007.06.285. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [11].Hu J., Chen T., Li M., He G., Meng J., Ma X., et al. Wide distribution and subcellular localization of histamine in sympathetic nervous systems of different species. Neurosci Res. 2007;59:231–236. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2007.06.1481. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [12].He G., Hu J., Ma X., Li M., Wang H., Meng J., et al. Sympathetic histamine exerts different pre- and post-synaptic functions according to the frequencies of nerve stimulation in guinea pig vas deferens. J Neurochem. 2008;106:1710–1719. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2008.05532.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [13].Liu S.Q., Zang W.J., Li Z.L., Yu X.J., Li B.P. Effect of atropine on denervated rabbit ear blood vessels. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2004;43:99–105. doi: 10.1097/00005344-200401000-00015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [14].Amann R., Donnerer J., Lembeck F. Activation of primary afferent neurons by thermal stimulation. Influence of ruthenium red. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 1990;341:108–113. doi: 10.1007/BF00195066. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [15].Bryan R.M., Jr, You J., Golding E.M., Marrelli S.P. Endotheliumderived hyperpolarizing factor: a cousin to nitric oxide and prostacyclin. Anesthesiology. 2005;102:1261–1277. doi: 10.1097/00000542-200506000-00028. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [16].Raimundo J.M., Trindade A.P., Velozo L.S., Kaplan M.A., Sudo R.T., Zapata-Sudo G. The lignan eudesmin extracted from Piper truncatum induced vascular relaxation via activation of endothelial histamine H1 receptors. Eur J Pharmacol. 2009;606:150–154. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2009.01.038. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [17].Metcalfe D.D., Baram D., Mekori Y.A. Mast cells. Physiol Rev. 1997;77:1033–1079. doi: 10.1152/physrev.1997.77.4.1033. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [18].Haas H.L., Sergeeva O.A., Selbach O. Histamine in the nervous system. Physiol Rev. 2008;88:1183–1241. doi: 10.1152/physrev.00043.2007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [19].Rattmann Y.D., Pereira C.R., Cury Y., Gremski W., Marques M.C., da Silva-Santos J.E. Vascular permeability and vasodilation induced by the Loxosceles intermedia venom in rats: involvement of mast cell degranulation, histamine and 5-HT receptors. Toxicon. 2008;51:363–372. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2007.10.007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [20].de Esch I.J., Thurmond R.L., Jongejan A., Leurs R. The histamine H4 receptor as a new therapeutic target for inflammation. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2005;26:462–469. doi: 10.1016/j.tips.2005.07.002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [21].Li M., Hu J., Chen Z., Meng J., Wang H., Ma X., et al. Evidence for histamine as a neurotransmitter in the cardiac sympathetic nervous system. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2006;291:H45–H51. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00939.2005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [22].He G., Ma X., Lu J., Meng J., Chen Y., Jia M., et al. Alpha2 adrenoceptors modulate histamine release from sympathetic nerves in the guinea pig vas deferens. Neuropharmacology. 2009;57:506–510. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2009.07.029. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [23].Levi R., Smith N.C. Histamine H3-receptors: a new frontier in myocardial ischemia. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2000;292:825–830. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Neuroscience Bulletin are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES