Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) are the pacemaker cells in the gastrointestinal tract, and histamine is known to regulate neuronal activity, control vascular tone, alter endothelial permeability, and modulate gastric acid secretion. However, the action mechanisms of histamine in mouse small intestinal ICCs have not been previously investigated, and thus, in the present study, we investigated...

Early partial maternal deprivation causes long-lasting neurochemical, behavioral and brain structural effects. In rats, it causes a deficit in memory consolidation visible in adult life. Some of these deficits can be reversed by donepezil and galantamine, which suggests that they may result from an impairment of brain cholinergic transmission. One such deficit, representative of all others, is ...

Recent advances in molecular biological techniques have seen the cloning of the H2-receptor gene from canine parietal cells, and the structural identification and cloning of the H1- and H3-receptors should soon follow. This information will allow the elucidation of the mechanisms responsible for the species and tissue heterogeneity in the H1-receptor binding and functional characteristics. The ...

Abdominal ischemia stimulates sympathetic visceral afferents to reflexly activate the cardiovascular system. We have shown previously that topical application of histamine (HA) to the gastric wall causes reflex cardiovascular responses and have documented increased histamine concentrations in intestinal lymph and portal venous plasma during brief abdominal ischemia. In the present study, we hyp...

Histamine (10-7 to 10-4 M) concentration-dependently stimulated the production of IL-18 and IFN-gamma and inhibited the production of IL-2 and IL-10 in human PBMCs. Histamine in the same concentration range did not induce the production of IL-12 at all. The stimulatory or inhibitory effects of histamine on cytokine production were all antagonized by H2 receptor antagonists ranitidine and famoti...

The histaminergic system influences various activities of the central nervous system, including cardiovascular regulation. Histamine administered intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) in anesthetized rats produces the increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR), however, in contrast to normotensive animals, histamine-induced rises in MAP and HR in critically hypotensive animals ar...

The ability of acetylcholine (ACh) to alter specific functional properties of the cortex endows the cholinergic system with an important modulatory role in memory formation. For example, an increase in ACh release occurs during novel stimulus processing, indicating that ACh activity is critical during early stages of memory processing. During novel taste presentation, there is an increase in AC...

The colocalization of histamine (HA) and norepinephrine (NE) immunoreactivities was identified within the superior cervical ganglia neurons of the guinea pig. HA and NE immunoreactivity levels were significantly attenuated after chemical sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). Coexistence of NE and HA was also visualized in the cardiac sympathetic axon and varicosities labeled with anter...

The brain histamine system has been implicated in regulation of sensorimotor gating deficits and in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Histamine also regulates alcohol reward and consumption via H3 receptor (H3R), possibly through an interaction with the brain dopaminergic system. Here, we identified the histaminergic mechanism of sensorimotor gating and the role of histamine H3R in the regulation...