Interdependence of histamine and methylhistamine kinetics: modelling and simulation approach

In the article a model of histamine kinetics is described. A motivation of this project was to investigate the hypothesis that methylhistamine may be a marker of histamine appearance in plasma. A model has been made to suppor t the hypothesis. Since metabolic and transport pathways of histamine and m ethylhistamine are complex and not very well known, the relationship betwee n histamine and methylhistamine should be elucidated by mathematical modell ing. From experimental data and the information in the literature, a nonlin ear and time-varying four-compartment model is proposed. Extensive release of histamine from mast cells when methylhistamine is injected, is modelled as histamine to methylhistamine ratio control loop. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.