Inhibition of Histamine Release in Experimental Diabetes

¹ From the Department of Pharmacology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

Alloxan diabetic rats failed to show the characteristic edema and elevated plasma histamine levels which follow the intravenous injection of dextran or egg white. Pretreatment with insulin restored the ability of these rats to respond in a normal fashion. Insulin in normal rats promotes edema formation and histamine release induced by dextran or egg white. In contrast to these findings, neither diabetes nor insulin pretreatment exerted an influence on the response of rats to intravenously injected compound 48/80. These results suggest a hitherto unrecognized role of insulin in certain types of inflammation and histamine release.