Histamine metabolism in skin of MRL/l mice

Of several murine autoimmune models, MRL/Mp-lpr/lpr (MRL/l) mice are the most attractive from a dermatopathological point of view, because their skin lesions resemble the erythematous lesions of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In order to clarify the pathogenesis of lupus dermatoses, histamine and its metabolizing activities in the skin of MRL/l mice were investigated. The specific activities of histamine-N-methyltransferase (HMT) in the skin of MRL/l mice were significantly lower than those in the skin of control mice i.e., MRL/Mp-+/+ (MRL/n), C57BL/6J, and BALB/c mice. In the dorsal lesional skin of MRL/l mice, HMT activities were markedly lower than those in normal abdominal skin. In addition, age-related analysis of HMT levels in the dorsal skin of MRL/l mice revealed that HMT activities reached their maximum at the age of 2 or 3 months and then decreased at 4 or 5 months when skin manifestation appeared: however, HMT activities in the abdominal skin increased almost linearly with age. There were no significant differences in histamine content in these mice, and diamine-oxidase activities were not detected in any skin specimens. From these results, it is suggested that impaired histamine metabolism is a particular biochemical feature of the skin of MRL/l mice.