Histamine Releasing Activity in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluids from Guinea Pigs

Yutaka Hitsuda, Yuji Kawasaki, Tadashi Igishi, Hiroyuki Sano, Noriko Nakada, Yukio Matsumoto and Takao Sasaki

Third Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago 683, Japan

We evaluated histamine releasing activity in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids obtained from ovalbumin sensitized and unsensitized guinea pigs. Unconcentrated BAL fluids from unsensitized animals released small but significant amounts of histamine from heterogeneous unsensitized guinea pig leukocytes. On the other hand, no significant histamine releasing activity was found in BAL fluids from sensitized animals. This finding may explain the difference between the 2 groups in terms of BAL characteristics; histamine concentrations in BAL fluids of sensitized animals did not differ from those of unsensitized animals, although mast cell concentrations in BAL fluid from sensitized animals were significantly higher than those from unsensitized animals. We also studied the effect of BAL fluids on leukocyte-derived histamine release induced by concanavalin A (Con A). BAL fluids from both sensitized and unsensitized animals apparently enhanced Con A-induced histamine release. This finding contrasts with the result of the reported study using human BAL fluids.

Key words: bronchoalveolar lavage; guinea pigs; histamine releasing activity; ovalbumin sensitization

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