Effects of diamine oxidase inhibition during pregnancy in the rat

The effects of inhibiting histamine catabolism, via oxidative deamination, on the course of pregnancy on rats and on their offspring were studied. Treatment with aminoguanidine, a potent inhibitor of diamine oxidase (EC 1.4.3.6), was performed during pregnancy, before histamine levels were spontaneously increased. Twenty-one day old fetuses from treated rats showed head, lung and liver hematomas with significant differences. Abnormalities of ossification were also recorded in bones of the cranial cavity, with different statistical significances. The results of the present experiment confirm that oxidative deamination is the main catabolic pathway for histamine in the rat. Organic and skeletal abnormalities found also suggest that diamine oxidase protects fetuses from histamine excesses attained during pregnancy.