title: Diurnal variation of urinary histamine and 1-methylhistamine excretion in healthy children.
abstract: In order to establish a noninvasive method of monitoring immediate hypersensitivity reactions in children, we studied the diurnal variation of urinary histamine and 1-methylhistamine excretion and the influence of food intake in a group of 14 healthy nonatopic children (aged 2-16 years). Histamine and 1-methylhistamine in spontaneous urine samples were determined by radioimmunoassay. Mean variation of 2-h intervals was much higher for urinary histamine than for 1-methylhistamine (45% of base-line level versus 24%). There was no circadian rhythm or influence of food intake. The short half-life of histamine released into blood circulation may be the main reason for the higher variation of histamine excretion. In children, urinary 1-methylhistamine is less influenced by diurnal variation and is therefore more suited to monitor immediate hypersensitivity reactions than urinary histamine itself.
authors.affiliation: University Children's Hospital (KAVH), Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schulze
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Niggemann
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Savaser
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wahn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006632:Histamine / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000276:immunology / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D008761:Methylhistamines / Q000652:urine*; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D008761:Methylhistamines; D006632:Histamine; D003404:Creatinine