Histaminergic regulation of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity of granulocytes, monocytes, and natural killer cells.

We investigated effects of the biogenic diamine histamine on antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) against autologous anti-D-coated red blood cells mediated by human granulocytes, monocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells. Effector cells were separated from peripheral blood by countercurrent centrifugal elutriation. ADCC of monocytes and neutrophilic granulocytes was suppressed by histamine. ADCC of enriched CD3-/56+ NK cells was unchanged by histamine. ADCC of NK cells was effectively inhibited by elutriated monocytes or neutrophils. Histamine completely reversed the inhibition of NK cell-mediated ADCC induced by monocytes and partly reversed the inhibition induced by neutrophils; thereby, histamine augmented ADCC of NK cells in the presence of monocytes or neutrophils. The indirect effect of histamine on ADCC of NK cells and the effect of histamine on ADCC of monocytes/neutrophils were completely antagonized by the specific H2 receptor (H2R) blocker ranitidine. We conclude that activation of H2R suppresses ADCC reactivity of monocytes/neutrophils and, concomitantly, promotes ADCC reactivity of NK cells by abrogating a phagocyte-derived, suppressive signal.