title: The basal plasma histamine level and eosinophil count in allergic and non-allergic patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The basal plasma histamine level and eosinophil count in the peripheral blood in patients with a history of allergy (allergic patients) were examined and compared with those in patients without any history of allergy (non-allergic patients).
  
  
  METHODS
  We preoperatively examined 70 allergic patients and 70 non-allergic patients who were all scheduled to undergo oral surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  The basal plasma histamine level and eosinophil count in the peripheral blood were measured preoperatively. The high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) post label system was used to measure the plasma histamine level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean basal plasma histamine level in non-allergic patients and allergic patients were 0.31 +/- 0.27 ng/ml and 0.47 +/- 0.30 ng/ml, respectively (p < 0.01). The mean eosinophil counts in non-allergic patients and allergic patients were 3.3 +/- 3.0% and 5.3 +/- 3.4%, respectively (p < 0.01). The patients who had asthma, atopic dermatitis or a food-induced allergy showed a high level of basal plasma histamine compared to that in non-allergic patients. The patients with asthma, allergic rhinitis or atopic dermatitis all demonstrated a higher eosinophil count than non-allergic patients. In addition, the correlation between the plasma histamine level and the eosinophil count was statistically significant (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The allergic patients had both higher basal plasma histamine levels and eosinophil counts than non-allergic patients (p < 0.01).
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Anesthesiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Kyushu University, Fukuoka.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikemoto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006632:Histamine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D006632:Histamine