A Microchemical Method for the Determination of Histamine

Abstract

In the past the quantitative determination of histamine in the skin has depended solely upon the pharmacological action of histamine on smooth muscle. The most commonly used pharmacological methods have been to determine the effect on the arterial blood pressure of the cat,¹or more recently on contraction of gut tissue in vitro. Preliminary acid hydrolysis of the extract has been done by some investigators^*and omitted by others.† Chemical methods for the detection and quantitative determination of histamine have been devised. These all involve preliminary purification and color reactions with various substances.‡ A chemical method, if adequately specific and sensitive, would have definite advantages in ease of performance and avoidance of the problems of a pharmacological method. The method used in this experiment was an adaptation of that described by Lowry, Graham, and associates¹¹which has been found to be sensitive and specific when