Histamine release from rat lung sensitized in vitro with mouse serum--an alternative pharmacologic method.

The ability of mouse anti-dinitropheny ovalbumin (anti-DNP-OA) serum to sensitize rat lung fragments can be demonstrated by the release of histamine from the tissue after antigenic challenge. This method can be utilized to evaluate anti-allergic agents, e.g., measuring the inhibition of histamine release by disodium cromoglycate (DSCG). In addition, the method can be utilized to evaluate antibody production, e.g., demonstrating the presence of separate antibodies against hapten and protein carrier in the sera of mice sensitized with DNP-OA. The correlation between heterologous rat passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (HPCA) and pulmonary histamine release for sera was determined by linear regression analysis. The r was greater than 0.8 with 16 observations, suggesting the utility of histamine release as a convenient alternative for pharmacologically evaluating different aspects of the immediate hypersensitivity response.