Evidence against Participation of Mast Cell Histamine in Formation of Burn Wound Edema

Histamine has been implicated as a mediator of edema formation in injured tissue. That this mediator participates in the inflammatory response to injury is suggested by data showing increased levels of plasma histamine during the time of edema formation after burn which are proportional to depth and size of injury. Because the mast cell is the principal source of tissue histamine, the contribution of this cell to edema formation in rats with a standard 30 total body surface area TBSA partial-thickness burn was investigated. Degranulating the mast cells prior to burn injury evoked no difference in the amount of edema formed compared with that in rats with normal mast cells. Substantially lower systemic levels of histamine were observed in the plasma of this group of rats after burn injury, which confirmed that degranulation of mast cells affected histamine concentrations.