Plasma Histamine and Serum Pepsinogen I Concentrations in Chronic Myelogenous Leukaemia

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Abstract
A male patient with multiple gastroduodenal ulcers and gastric hypersecretion due to hyperhistaminemia associated with extreme basophilia occurring in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is described. Plasma histamine levels and serum pepsinogen I concentrations, reflecting gastric acid secretion, were studied in 18 CML patients. As compared to controls, plasma histamine levels were clearly increased in CML patients and correlated well with the basophil count. Serum pepsinogen I concentrations were normal in 14 of 17 cases and did not correlate with plasma histamine levels. This absence of a direct relation between plasma histamine concentrations and serum pepsinogen I levels suggests that a high concentration of circulating histamine does not inevitably lead to increased gastric acid secretion. This offers 1 explanation of the fact that, in spite of the frequent occurrence of basophilia and hyperhistaminemia in CML, ulcerogenic diathesis is quite rare in this disease and complicates only cases with extreme basophila.