Immunological Release of Histamine from Human Lung

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Abstract
The experiments reported in this work have been performed to measure the effects of acetylcholine and the anticholinergic agent ipratropium bromide on the antigen-induced release of histamine from sensitized human lung in vitro. Primarily, ipratropium bromide did not have any effect, even at higher concentrations. Acetylcholine at a concentration of 1 × 10-7M increased the antigen-induced release of histamine by approximately 41%. When the lung tissue was treated with ipratropium bromide before acetylcholine, the competitive inhibition of the cholinergic receptor almost completely abolished this acetylcholine-induced increase of histamine release. Therefore, in our opinion, anticholinergic agents are primarily useful in vagus-controlled chronic obstructive ventilatory disorders; they are of secondary importance in allergic bronchial asthma.