Blood, 1955, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 467-481.
© 1955 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
Distribution of Histamine among Leukocytes and Platelets
HELEN TREDWAY GRAHAM 1,
OLIVER H. LOWRY 1,
FRANCES WHEELWRIGHT 1,
MIRIAM A. LENZ 1, and
HAVNER H. PARISH JR. 1
1 Departments of Pharmacology and Medicine Washington University School
of Medicine, St. Louis.
1. Platelets and lymphocytes free of other white elements of blood have been
analysed for histamine by a microchemical method. Platelets were found to contain 1280 µg. per liter or .009 µg. per 109 platelets, lymphocytes 2600 µg. per
liter, or 0.6 µg. per 109 cells.
2. The histamine content of neutrophilic, eosinophilic and basophilic granulocytes has been calculated by multiple regression from histamine measurements
on one series of blood samples from normal adults and another from subjects
with chronic myelocytic leukemia. The normal values are 1080 µg. per l09
basophils and 160 µg. per 109 eosinophils or 2,400,000 and 360,000 µg. per liter
respectively. The corresponding values for neutrophils are 3 µg. per 109 cells
and 7000 µg. per liter. The values for the histamine concentration per cell are
statistically significant for basophils and eosinophils, but not for neutrophils.
In the leukemia series, the values for neutrophils and basophils are respectively
69 and 305 µg. per 109 cells, and they are statistically significant. The difference
from normal in the value for basophils was not statistically validated. There are,
however, in chronic myelocytic leukemia, histological changes from the normal
that are consonant with a decreased histamine content in basophils and an increased histamine content in eosinophils and neutrophils.
3. Although definite values for the histamine content of monocytes and the
immature forms seen in chronic myelocytic leukemia have not been obtained,
there is reason to believe that the histamine of these cell types does not exceed
that of neutrophils.
4. By centrifuging white cells in a specific gravity gradient column, partial
segregation of cell types was obtained. Peak concentrations were observed at the
followihig specific gravities: lymphocytic leukemia lymphocytes, 1.063; myelocytes, normal lymphocytes and basophils, all near 1.070; neutrophils, 1.080,
and eosinophils, 1.080 or higher. Although individual concentration peaks were
usually quite sharp, there was considerable overlapping at intermediate specific
gravities.
5. About half of the histamine of normal blood is in the basophils, one-third
in the eosinophils and the remaining one-sixth in all the other blood elements
combined. In blood samples from patients with chronic myelocytic leukemia,
the fraction of blood histamine carried by each type of granulocyte varies widely.
Submitted on September 20, 1954
Accepted on October 11, 1954
