Thursday, April 17, 2014

Histamine and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)


There has been an article by E. Nent and colleagues last year: “Histamine 4 receptor plays an important role in auto-antibody-induced arthritis” (Int. Immunol. (2013) 25 (7): 437-443. doi: 10.1093/intimm/dxt008 First published online: April 1, 2013). The authors induced arthritis in mice and found that “mice treated with all four histamine receptor antagonists simultaneously showed no arthritic symptoms, while positive control mice injected with K/B×N serum and vehicle suffered from severe symptoms. When antagonists specific for HR1–4 were applied individually, only the HR4 antagonist clozapine could protect mice from arthritis, reflecting its expression and functionality in the immune system.”
The HR4 is highly expressed in bone marrow and neutrophils and regulates the release of certain cells from the marrow into the blood. It’s far too early to think about therapeutic approaches in rheumatoid arthritis. However the idea isn’t new as an anti-histamine drug against rheumatoid arthritis has been tested in 1952 (http://ard.bmj.com/content/12/1/38.full.pdf). D.C. Wilson’s summary has been disillusioning: “An investigation into the usefulness of Phenergan in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is described. Eleven cases (ten rheumatoid) were treated. There was a uniform lack of objective response.”
As some patients disclose a reduction of symptoms with an anti-histamine diet, I’d say, perhaps give it a try even before more scientific data emerges. Eat fresh and avoid processed foods. Look for more information here: http://www.histamineintolerance.org.uk/about/the-food-diary/the-food-list






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