title: Histamine and astrocyte function.
abstract: Astrocytes support the brain through numerous functional interactions in health and disease. The recent advances in our knowledge of astrocyte involvement in various neurological disorders raised up several questions about their role and functioning in the central nervous system. From the evidence discussed in this review, we show that histamine importantly influences the main astrocytic activities such as ion homeostasis, energy metabolism, neurotransmitter clearance, neurotrophic activity and immune response. These processes are mediated through at least three histamine receptor subtypes, H1, H2 and H3, expressed on the astrocyte surface. Thus, we recognize histamine as an important player in the modulation of astrocytic functions that deserves further considerations in exploring involvement of astrocytes in neurological disorders.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology and Experimental Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Korytkova 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: damijana-mojca.juric@mf.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Damijana M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Jurič
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology and Experimental Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Korytkova 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: mojca.limpel@mf.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Mojca
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kržan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology and Experimental Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Korytkova 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: metoda.lipnik-stangelj@mf.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Metoda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lipnik-Stangelj
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006632:Histamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D011968:Receptors, Histamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D011968:Receptors, Histamine; D006632:Histamine
keywords: Astrocyte function; Histamine; Histamine receptors