Pii: S0006-2952(01)00567-6

Both histamine and polyamines are important for maintaining basophilic cell function and viability. The synthesis of these biogenic amines is regulated by histidine decarboxylase and ornithine decarboxylase, respectively. In other mammalian tissues, an interplay between histamine and polyamine metabolisms has been suspected. In this report, the interplay between histamine and ornithine-derived polyamines was studied in a non-transformed mouse mast cell line (C57.1) treated with phorbol ester and dexamethasone, a treatment previously used to increase histidine decarboxylase expression in mastocytoma and basophilic leukemia. Treatment with phorbol ester and dexamethasone increased histidine decarboxylase expression and intracellular histamine levels in C57.1 mast cells to a greater extent than those found for other transformed basophilic models. The treatment also induced a reduction in ornithine decarboxylase expression, intracellular polyamine contents, and cell proliferation. These results indicate that the treatment induces a co-ordinate response of polyamine metabolism and proliferation in mast cells and other immune-related cells. The decrease in the proliferative capacity of mast cells caused by phorbol ester and dexamethasone was simultaneous to an increase in histamine production. Our results, together with those reported by other groups working with polyamine-treated mast cells, indicate an antagonism between histamine and polyamines in basophilic cells. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.