Histamine and the heart

Abstract

Histamine has been known as a cardiac stimulant for over 70 years. Work in our laboratory over the past decade has established that histamine receptors exist in the hearts of various species. The type of histamine receptor varies not only between species but also in the various regions of the heart. In the guinea pig heart H1 receptors are found in left atria and ventricles while H2 receptors are found in right atria and are the predominant histamine receptor in the ventricles. Rabbit atria contain both H1 and H2 receptors while the ventricles appear to possess only H1. Rat and cat heart do not seem to have histamine receptors and the positive inotropic and chronotropic effects elicited by histamine in cardiac preparations of these species are due to the release of noradrenaline. Dog heart contains H1 receptors while human heart has H2 receptors. In all cases H2 receptors are associated with adenylate cyclase and stimulation of such receptors results in an increase in cyclic AMP levels. H1 receptors are not associated with cyclic nucleotides in the heart. There are certain similarities between β-adrenergic and H2-histaminergic receptors as well as between α-adrenergic and H1-histaminergic receptors. Stimulation of either histamine receptor must result in an increase in the free calcium ion concentration in the cardiac cell but the mechanisms involved are obviously different.