Journal of Nutrition

Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Journal of Nutrition Vol. 118 No. 5 May 1988, pp. 639-644
Copyright
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Oh, C.
Right arrow Articles by Nakano, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Oh, C.
Right arrow Articles by Nakano, K.

Reversal by Ascorbic Acid of Suppression by Endogenous Histamine of Rat Lymphocyte Blastogenesis

Chanho Oh and Kiwao Nakano

Department of Nutritional Regulation, Research Institute for Biochemical Regulation, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464, Japan

Addition of concanavalin A (Con A) to a culture of spleen cells of ODS-od/od rats, which cannot synthesize ascorbic acid, increased the activity of histidine decarboxylase (HDC) in the culture, leading to accumulation of histamine (Hm) in the medium. Treatment of the culture with clmetidine, a type 2 Hm antagonist, enhanced Con A-dependent lymphocyte blastogenesis even in the absence of any exogenously added Hm. Addition of low doses of histaminase increased Con A-dependent lymphocyte transformation. At higher doses, it abrogated the reaction. At concentrations of more than 10-10 M, exogenously added Hm suppressed the Con A-dependent uptake of [3H]thymidine by the lymphocyte, but it significantly augmented the response at 10-14 M. The addition of ascorbic acid (10-8-10-5 M) to the culture suppressed the Con A-mediated HDC induction and inhibited Hm biosynthesis. Concomitantly added ascorbic acid at the concentrations of 10-8-10-4 M increased the uptake of [3H]thymidine dependent on Con A or phytohemagglutinin by the lymphocytes. These results suggest that mitogen-dependent lymphocyte blastogenesis is activated by Hm produced by the spleen cells per se. However, when culture was prolonged, high concentrations of Hm suppressed the reaction. Ascorbic acid enhances mitogen-dependent lymphocyte blastogenesis through inhibition of HDC induction, leading to attenuation of immunosuppressive Hm production by the spleen cells.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin C • stress • histamine

Manuscript received 20 August 1987. Revision accepted 13 January 1988.






Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]