Histidine is an essential amino acid involved in a wide range of metabolic processes. Clinical studies show it may have anti-depressive action and suppresses food intake. L-Histidine is used for rheumatoid arthritis, allergic diseases, ulcers and anaemia.
Published Clinical Studiescl top
1
Antidepressant-like effects of endogenous histamine and of two histamine H1 receptor agonists in the mouse forced swim test.
Lamberti C, Ipponi A, Bartolini A, Schunack W, Malmberg-Aiello P.
Department of Preclinical and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Florence, Firenze, Italy.
1. Effects of substances which are able to alter brain histamine levels and two histamine H1 receptor agonists were investigated in mice by means of an animal model of depression, the forced swim test. 2. Imipramine (10 and 30 mg kg(-1), i.p.) and amitriptyline (5 and 15 mg kg(-1), i.p.) were used as positive controls. Their effects were not affected by pretreatment with the histamine H3 receptor agonist, (R)-alpha-methylhistamine, at a dose (10 mg kg(-1), i.p.) which did not modify the cumulative time of immobility. 3. The histamine H3 receptor antagonist, thioperamide (2-20 mg kg(-1), s.c.), showed an antidepressant-like effect, with a maximum at the dose of 5 mg kg(-1), which was completely prevented by (R)-alpha-methylhistamine. 4. The histamine-N-methyltransferase inhibitor, metoprine (2-20 mg kg(-1), s.c.), was effective with an ED50 of 4.02 (2.71-5.96) mg kg(-1); its effect was prevented by (R)-alpha-methylhistamine. 5. The histamine precursor, L-histidine (100-1000 mg kg(-1), i.p.), dose-dependently decreased the time of immobility [ED30 587 (499-712) mg kg(-1)]. The effect of 500 mg kg(-1) L-histidine was completely prevented by the selective histidine decarboxylase inhibitor, (S)-alpha-fluoromethylhistidine (50 mg kg(-1), i.p.), administered 15 h before. 6. The highly selective histamine H1 receptor agonist, 2-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)histamine (0.3-6.5 microg per mouse, i.c.v.), and the better known H1 agonist, 2-thiazolylethylamine (0.1-1 microg per mouse, i.c.v.), were both dose-dependently effective in decreasing the time of immobility [ED50 3.6 (1.53-8.48) and 1.34 (0.084-21.5) microg per mouse, respectively]. 7. None of the substances tested affected mouse performance in the rota rod test at the doses used in the forced swim test. 8. It was concluded that endogenous histamine reduces the time of immobility in this test, suggesting an antidepressant-like effect, via activation of H1 receptors.
PMID: 9579727 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Food intake suppression by histidine.2
Sheiner JB, Morris P, Anderson GH.
Following injection of histidine (as 1-histidine monohydrochloride, 500 mg/kg, IP) rats showed a suppression of total food intake within the first 2 hours of a 12 hour daily feeding period but not if the rats were adapted to a 4 hour daily feeding period. Furthermore, rats adapted to a nocturnal as compared to a diurnal 12 hour feeding period showed a greater response (50% vs. 20% suppression of feeding) to histidine. Overall, within an experiment, food intake suppression correlated with the histidine dose (0, 125, 250, 375 and 500 mg/kg; for mean response r(3) = 0.90, p less than 0.05) although the lowest dose measured to be effective in a cross-over design experiment was 375 mg/kg. No differential effect upon protein or carbohydrate intake was observed in any of the studies. The effects of injections of 250 and 500 mg/kg histidine on food intake were associated with significant elevations of brain histidine and histamine. We conclude that histidine, possibly by changes in brain histidine, influences total food intake but not macronutrient selection.
PMID: 4080756 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]