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Differential release of serotonin and histamine from mast cells

Nature volume 297, pages 229–231 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

Exocytosis dependent on calcium and metabolic energy has been established as the mechanism for the release of membrane-bound secretory products from various exocrine, endocrine and neural cells1. This has also been shown to be the case in mast cells, which have been used increasingly as a model secretory system2. The secretory granules of mast cells contain several mediators3, some of which, such as histamine, are known to participate in many immune reactions and allergic diseases4,5. Because of mast cell involvement in these clinical syndromes, as well as the role of histamine in gastric acid secretion6 and possibly in brain pathophysiology7, there has been great interest in the pharmacological modulation of histamine release from mast cells8. Serotonin is also stored in mast cell granules of several species but much less is known about its secretion. Because histamine and serotonin may have divergent functions in delayed hypersensitivity4,9, we hypothesized that these amines could undergo differential release. We now report that the tricyclic antidepressant drug amitriptyline (Elavil) inhibits histamine release from stimulated mast cells while permitting the release of serotonin. In these conditions, exocytosis of secretory granules is largely prevented, but serotonin is released by an unknown process which still requires calcium and metabolic energy. The ability to secrete differentially expands the physiological potential of the mast cell, and suggests that release of serotonin may not always indicate mast cell secretion via exocytosis of secretory granules.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut, 06510, USA

    Theoharis C. Theoharides & Philip W. Askenase

  2. Veterans Administration Medical Center, West Spring Street, West Haven, Connecticut, 06516, USA

    Philip K. Bondy

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Aristotelian University School of Medicine, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Nikolaos D. Tsakalos

Authors
  1. Theoharis C. Theoharides
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  2. Philip K. Bondy
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  3. Nikolaos D. Tsakalos
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  4. Philip W. Askenase
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Theoharides, T., Bondy, P., Tsakalos, N. et al. Differential release of serotonin and histamine from mast cells. Nature 297, 229–231 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/297229a0

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