Histamine in the body is found in the granules of mast cells or basophils (concentrated in the nose, mouth and feet; body surfaces and vessel walls); in the chromaffin cells of the gastric mucosa and in cells of certain tissues such as the brain. Histamine is broken down by Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, Histamine-N-methyltransferase and Diamine oxidase. A diet rich in folic acid and Niacin can increase the Histamine level in the blood and increase the release of Histamine, or L-histidine, in the human body.
In nature, Histamine is formed through the conversion of Histidine into Histamine by Histidine decarboxylase. Food poisoning from eating processed fish containing high levels of Histamine occurs in many countries and was first detected in tuna, mackerel and salmon… The cause of the food poisoning is the conversion of Histidine into Histamine in cooked food.
The biological action of Histamine appears when Histamine binds to Histamine receptors on specific cells. Four types of Histamine receptor are known, H1, H2, H3 and H4, but so far only the H1 and H2 receptors are fully understood.
– H1 receptors: in smooth muscle tissue, endothelium and the central nervous system. Histamine acts to contract the smooth muscle of the bronchi and intestines but relaxes the smooth muscle of blood vessels, increases capillary permeability causing oedema, stimulates nerve endings causing pain and itching; it can cause allergic rhinitis syndromes and diarrhoea
– H2 receptors: present in the parietal cells of the stomach lining. Histamine increases gastric acid secretion and can cause gastric and duodenal ulcer.
Food poisoning occurs from eating food containing a Histamine concentration higher than the level the body can tolerate. People with an allergic constitution can develop an allergy from eating only a small amount of food containing a low Histamine concentration.
Histamine toxin in seawater fish
Compared with livestock and poultry meat, fish meat has lower mechanical strength and is more easily contaminated by microorganisms. Apart from the factors that spoil proteins, starches and sugars and form organic acids such as Ammonia, Indole, Skatole…, causing putrid smells and producing green, brown and black colours in seawater fish. Histamine is formed by enzymes produced by growing microorganisms, which act on fish and convert the amino acid Histidine into Histamine, such as Enterobacteriaceae; M. morganii… The bacterium M. morganii is the species with the greatest capacity to produce Histamine.
Histamin is heat-stable and is not destroyed even when it is cooked. Therefore, if seawater fish contains a high level of Histamine, it is not lost during cooking. The toxicity of Histamine depends on the total amount of Histamine eaten. If the intake is from 8 mg – 40 mg Histamine, sensitive people will suffer watering eyes and salivation; if the intake is from 1,500 mg – 4,000 mg, the person shows signs such as headache, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, rapid pulse, breathing difficulty and rash…
Histamine intolerance is relatively poorly identified. However, around 1% of the population is affected by histamine; those affected are mainly women.
Affected people cannot break down histamin properly. Excess histamine results in various symptoms, for example headache, skin rash, diarrhoea or vomiting.
People with histamine intolerance must avoid consuming histamine-rich food. This includes fermented or cultured foods, for example: wine, cheese, beer, sauerkraut, vinegar or soy sauce. Other foods can also be hard to digest for allergic people, such as eggs, meat products, yeast, mushrooms, tomatoes or citrus fruits.
Besides causing allergy, histamine is also an indicator of fish that is not fresh. Fish with a high histamine content is associated with scombroid poisoning. High quality fresh fish contains less than 10 ppm histamin. However, if fresh fish is exposed to high temperatures, the growth of microorganisms usually develops quickly in protein-rich food. This leads to increased breakdown of histidine into histamine. Therefore, depending on the bacterial species, temperature and exposure time, histamine levels exceeding 1,000 ppm can be reached.
Because health problems can occur after consuming food with a high histamine content, some countries have set limit values. This limit for fish products and fish in many countries is about 100 mg / kg, and in some countries even as low as 50 mg / kg. In Switzerland, the limit value of 10 mg / l introduced for wine has now been lifted.
PacificLAB is the distributor supplying test kits for the determination of Histamine in tuna, wine,…
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