Histamine stimulates alveolar macrophages to release neutrophil and monocyte chemotactic activity.

Histamine and serotonin are important inflammatory mediators in the pathophysiology of asthma, and asthmatic patients have higher plasma histamine and serotonin levels than non-asthmatic control subjects. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) synthesize and secrete a large number of substances that play a key role in acute and chronic inflammation including asthma. We postulated that AMs might release chemotactic activity for neutrophils and monocytes in response to histamine or serotonin. To test this hypothesis, bovine AMs were cultured, and the supernatant fluids were evaluated for neutrophil chemotactic activity (NCA) and monocyte chemotactic activity (MCA) by a blind well chamber technique. AMs released chemotactic activity in response to histamine and serotonin in a dose- and time-dependent manner (P <.05). Partial characterization and molecular sieve column chromatography revealed that low-molecular-weight lipid-soluble activity was predominant. Lipoxygenase inhibitors significantly blocked the release of chemotactic activity. Leukotriene B(4) receptor antagonists blocked the chemotactic activity. Immunoreactive leukotriene B(4) significantly increased in supernatant fluids in response to histamine and serotonin. The receptor responsible for the release of chemotactic activity in response to histamine was the H2 receptor. These data demonstrate that AMs release NCA and MCA in response to histamine or serotonin (or both) and may modulate the inflammatory cell recruitment into the lung.