Histamine as a neurotransmitter in mammalian brain: neurochemical evidence.

TLDR: The view that HA might have a neurotransmitter role in mammalian brain has been indirectly reinforced by the identification of histaminergic neurons in the CNS of the marine mollusk Aplysia californica (for a review, see Weinreich, 1977).

Abstract: For a long time the history of histamine (HA) has been confounded with that of autacoids, i.e., endogenous substances with potent biological effects but whose physiological function is only a matter of speculation. However, starting from about 1970, sufficient data, mostly of a biochemical nature, have been collected to justify its present classification in most reviews or textbooks at the top of the list of putative neurotransmitters in the brain. The main landmarks in this evolution are probably the development of neurochemical methods allowing for assessment of the possibilities that: synthesis and storage of HA occurs in neuronal pools, in which it is in a dynamic state; that selective lesions of neuronal tracts are followed by changes in HA and L-histidine decarboxylase (HD); and that HA receptors can be detected in brain by various approaches. Recently the view that HA might have a neurotransmitter role in mammalian brain has been indirectly reinforced by the identification of histaminergic neurons in the CNS of the marine mollusk Aplysia californica (for a review, see Weinreich, 1977). The short review will consider the. most significant neurochemical data obtained concerning the metabolism of the amine, the localisation of putative histaminergic pathways and the characterization of receptors. Other aspects not covered here can be found in recent reviews: behavioral and pharmacological aspects (Green et al . , 1978; Schwartz et al., 198Oa), neuroendocrinological aspects (Weiner and Ganong, 1978), and neurovegetative aspects (Owen, 1977).