[Application of HPLC to measurement of plasma histamine in bronchial asthma]

We measured the plasma histamine concentration in patients with bronchial asthma by the post-column derivatization method developed by Yamatodani. The mean fasting plasma concentrations of histamine determined for bronchial asthma and control groups (male and female) were 1.93 +/- 0.29 (male) and 1.37 +/- 0.15 (female) pmol/ml and 4.05 +/- 0.69 (male) and 5.19 +/- 0.35 (female) pmol/ml, respectively. The histamine concentrations in the bronchial asthma group were significantly lower than those in the control group, although no significant sex-related difference was found. On the other hand, the histamine concentrations in the patients with bronchial asthma after provocation with histamine were significantly higher than when the patients were in a quiescent stable. In this study we can get the behavior of the slight changes in bronchial asthma by considering the finding for the patients, sampling trials and selection of the determination method.