Neuronal histaminergic system in aging and age-related neurodegenerative disorders.
The neuronal histaminergic system is involved in many physiological functions and is severely affected in age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The properties of the neuronal histaminergic system in experimental animals and the alterations observed in postmortem brain material of PD or AD patients are reviewed. The production of neuronal histamine shows diurnal fluctuations in control subjects who had no neuropsychiatric disorders, while this fluctuation was strongly altered in patients with neurodegenerative diseases, including PD and AD. In addition, different alterations shown as expression levels of histidine decarboxylase (the key enzyme for histamine production), histamine-methyltransferase (the histamine deactivating enzyme), and histamine receptors (H(1-4)R) were found in various neurodegenerative disorders. Discrepancies between results from animal models and postmortem human brain material studies have made clear that the validation of animal models is absolutely necessary and that studies on patients and human postmortem material are essential to understand the changes of neuronal histaminergic system occurring in neuropsychiatric disorders.
Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Ling
L
Shan
Dick F
DF
Swaab
Ai-Min
AM
Bao
D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006632:Histamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006633:Histamine Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006637:Histamine N-Methyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D006640:Histidine Decarboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009410:Nerve Degeneration; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011968:Receptors, Histamine / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
D006633:Histamine Antagonists; D011968:Receptors, Histamine; D006632:Histamine; D006637:Histamine N-Methyltransferase; D006640:Histidine Decarboxylase