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Histamine formation by mouse preimplantation embryos
Mouse embryos recovered on the 4th day of pregnancy produced histamine, as evidenced by the 14CO2 produced from carboxy labelled L-histidine, at the rate of 1.5 +/- 0.3 (s.e.m.) pmol/embryo per hour. Most (83.2 +/- 4.6%) of the embryos flushed from the oviducts on Day 3 of pregnancy (4--8-cell stage) developed into blastocysts within 48 h after being placed in culture. Inclusion of L-histidine hydrochloride (4.7 x 10(-4) M) in the culture medium did not alter this development but DL-alpha-methylhistidine (3.8 x 10(-4) M), an inhibitor of histidine decarboxylase, reduced the number of embryos developing into blastocysts to only 10.8 +/- 6.8%. A combination of L-histidine and DL-alpha-methylhistidine in the medium prevented the growth-retarding effect of the latter compound. The results indicate that mouse embryos can produce histamine and suggest that this is necessary for normal development.
Mouse embryos recovered on the 4th day of pregnancy produced histamine, as evidenced by the 14CO2 produced from carboxy labelled L-histidine, at the rate of 1.5 +/- 0.3 (s.e.m.) pmol/embryo per hour. Most (83.2 +/- 4.6%) of the embryos flushed from the oviducts on Day 3 of pregnancy (4--8-cell stage) developed into blastocysts within 48 h after being placed in culture. Inclusion of L-histidine hydrochloride (4.7 x 10(-4) M) in the culture medium did not alter this development but DL-alpha-methylhistidine (3.8 x 10(-4) M), an inhibitor of histidine decarboxylase, reduced the number of embryos developing into blastocysts to only 10.8 +/- 6.8%. A combination of L-histidine and DL-alpha-methylhistidine in the medium prevented the growth-retarding effect of the latter compound. The results indicate that mouse embryos can produce histamine and suggest that this is necessary for normal development.