Effect of histamine and antagonists on electrical resistance across the blood-brain barrier in rat brain-surface microvessels.

The effect of histamine on blood-brain barrier permeability was investigated using in situ measurement of transendothelial electrical resistance in brain-surface microvessels of anaesthetized rats. Mean resistance of vessels superfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid was 1500 omega.cm2, indicating a tight barrier with low ion permeability. The addition of 10(-4) M histamine resulted in a 75% decrease in resistance, in both arterial and venous vessels, indicating a marked increase in barrier permeability. To determine the nature of the response to histamine, rats were given presurgical intraperitoneal injections of promethazine (H1 receptor antagonist), cimetidine (H2 receptor antagonist) or indomethacin (cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor), singularly and in combinations. Cimetidine completely blocked the histamine-mediated increase in barrier permeability whereas promethazine only had a small effect and indomethacin was ineffective. In addition, cimetidine treatment resulted in a 100% increase in basal resistance in both arterial and venous vessels, suggesting endogenous histamine was acting to increase blood-brain barrier permeability. It is concluded that histamine causes an increase in blood-brain barrier permeability which is mediated via endothelial H2 receptors, and that the electrical resistance in cimetidine-treated rats most closely represents the true permeability of the blood-brain barrier.