Changes in histamine and prostaglandins in acute inflammatory air pouch in mice.

The changes in histamine and prostaglandins (PGE2 and PGF) in carrageenan-induced acute inflammation were studied in 6 day old air pouches in mice. A significant elevation of exudate histamine was found 1 hour after the carrageenan injection. Highest vascular permeability at the site of inflammation was also found at 1 hour. Both PGE2 and PGF showed steady increases in the pouch exudate and reached significantly higher levels at 24 hours. The present findings thus suggest that histamine is involved in the early phase of carrageenan-induced inflammation by enhancing vascular permeability. The increases in PGE2 and PGF appear to be closely correlated with the increased exudate cell accumulation. This leads us to suggest that they are likely to be involved in the exudate cell activity rather than in enhancing the vascular permeability which was found to decrease at 4 hours after the carrageenan injection.