Histamine content of sputum from patients with asthma and chronic bronchitis

Abstract

A spectrofluorometric method for measuring the histamine content of sputum of patients with asthma or chronic bronchitis was developed. The mean histamine concentration of sputum from patients with bronchogenic carcinoma or pneumonia was not significantly different from the mean value for sputum collected during a remission phase from patients with either chronic bronchitis or asthma. The mean values in patients with asthma or chronic bronchitis during an exacerbation were significantly higher and returned to basal values as the airways obstruction improved. There was no significant difference in sputum histamine concentration between those patients with extrinsic atopic asthma and those with late onset cryptogenic asthma during an exacerbation although the value in patients with an exacerbation of chronic bronchitis was significantly less. Mediators of immediate hypersensitivity may be implicated in the pathogenesis of airways obstruction in disorders other than extrinsic atopic asthma. Histamine release may occur in non-atopic subjects in response to non-antigenic stimuli.