Histamine toxicity

Histamine is a naturally occurring compound synthesized in the body. It has been identified as a toxic agent which causes allergic reactions.

Histamine can be indigenous or dietary. Indigenous histamine is produce in the human body mainly in mast cells and is released following exposure to an allergen. In the case of histamine poisoning, the exogenous histamine from foods in the diet is the culprit rather than endogenously secreted histamine.

Dietary histamine is produce in various foods the most important of which is fish of the scombroid family and is the result of microbial activity. Humans are relatively resistant to dietary histamine because of the presence of two histamine-metabolizing enzymes, histamine-N-methylytransferase (HMT) and diamine oxidase (DAO), in the small intestinal mucosa.

Histamine toxicity can result in a wide variety of symptoms such as rash, urticaria, inflammation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, hypotension, tingling sensations, flushing, palpitations and headache.
Histamine toxicity