What’s Histamine?

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Histamine is a chemical produced by the body that aids in the immune response and acts as a neurotransmitter. In response to foreign pathogens in the body, this chemical is produced by basophils, a type of white blood cell, and mast cells, connective tissue cells with basophil-like characteristics. Histamine helps fight infection by making capillaries more permeable to white blood cells that fight pathogens.

Four types of histamine receptors have been discovered in the body, which interact with the released histamine to produce a reaction. H1 receptors are found on smooth muscle tissue of internal organs, the endothelium lining blood vessels, and central nervous system tissue. Histamine interaction with these receptors is responsible for hives, itching and swelling due to insect bites and similar allergic reactions and allergic rhinitis or cold-like symptoms due to allergic reaction. H2 receptors are found on the parietal cells of the stomach lining and stimulate the secretion of stomach acid when activated; this process is a normal part of biological function and not a response to pathogens.

H3 receptors are found in tissue of the central and parietal nervous system and are responsible for the decreased release of neurotransmitters including acetylcholine, histamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. H4 receptors are found in the basophils, bone marrow, thymus, small intestine, spleen, and colon. They play a role in chemotaxis, the movement of cells in the body in reaction to a chemical in their environment.

In addition to its role in the immune response, histamine helps regulate a number of processes in the body. It aids in the digestive function of the stomach, as mentioned above, and helps produce an orgasm through the mast cells in the genitals. Histamine also helps regulate sleep, as the body produces more of it upon waking and less as the sleep cycle progresses. For this reason, antihistamines can help a person fall asleep by limiting the release of the chemical.

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