Adrenal Cortical Hormones and the Formation of Histamine and 5-Hydroxytryptamine

Abstract

IT has been suggested^1,2 that the administration of adrenal cortical hormones lowers the tissue reserves of histamine by decreasing the rate of its formation. One of the physiological actions of these hormones therefore may be to exert a functional control over the histamine-levels in the tissues. The relationship of adrenal cortical hormones to the production of another tissue amine, namely, 5-hydroxytryptamine, has not been studied, and it was therefore of interest to trace the effects of cortisone and certain of its analogues on the tissue-levels of both amines in the rat and to correlate these changes with alterations in the tissue mast cell population.