The key role of histamine in the development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

Vitamin C-deficiency is known to cause a disturbance of cholesterol metabolism. Suboptimal plasma ascorbic acid levels also cause increased blood histamine levels, which are exaggerated by sleep-lack and other forms of stress. Histaminemia causes separation of vascular endothelial cells. It is here suggested that the histaminemia of stress and ascorbate depletion combine to cause damage to the arterial endothelium and predispose to atherosclerosis, the principal cause of myocardial infarction.