Antagonism of Depressed Extracellular Potassium Levels Against Histamine Toxicity in Mice

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Abstract
The lethality of histamine was studied in three groups of 110 CFw mice fed low, normal and high potassium content diets, respectively, for 5 weeks. The plasma potassium levels of the three groups on the 34th day were 3.2 ± 0.4 mEq K+/l. for the mice on the low potassium content, 5.7 ± 0.8 mEq K+/l. for the group on normal diet, and 5.4 ± 0.4 mEq K+/l. for the group on high potassium diet. The ld50's and 19/20 confidence limits for the respective groups to intravenous histamine were 240 (220.2–261.6) mg/kg, 189 (170.3–209.8) mg/kg, and 155 (142.5–168.6) mg/kg. These data indicate that a reduction in total body potassium offers a protective action against the production of histamine death in mice and confirm earlier reports that the presence of potassium in this species enhances the toxic effects of histamine. The results obtained cannot be explained on the basis of delayed circulation time, renal or adrenal pathology; however, they suggest a possible mechanism to explain the protective action of fasting against histamine toxicity in this species.