[Changes in histamine levels in skin chambers. Application for clinical evaluation of atopic dermatitis--report 2]

We measured changes in histamine levels in fluids from children with moderate or severe atopic dermatitis by the skin chamber method and evaluated the correlation with clinical symptoms. Skin chambers were applied to the forearm skin which had been scratched with a needle, and extract of Dermatophagoides farinae (mite antigen) at 50 microns filters as a challenge. We measured the concentrations of histamine 2, 6, 12 and 24 hr after challenge. The skin chamber test was performed before and after beach camp therapy or hospitalization therapy. We treated 26 children with beach camp therapy, and compared the effects with hospitalization in Tokyo (20 children). All the children in both groups showed results of mediator releasability in skin chamber was different in the two groups. The histamine levels were dramatically increased 24 hr after challenge with mite antigen. The levels of histamine in the chambers 24 hr after challenge decreased with treatment along with improvements in skin condition. A marked increase in histamine levels in the skin chamber fluids was observed after 24 hours, whereas no increase was observed when they were challenged with vehicle saline. After 7 days of beach camp therapy, challenge with mite antigen produced only a very small increase in histamine levels even after 24 hours, which was significantly lower than the levels before therapy. In the cases involving hospitalization in Tokyo, histamine was observed to be increased at 24 hr (24.9 +/- 8.0 ng/ml SEM), similarly to the beach campgroup (19.0 +/- 7.3 ng/ml).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)