Inhibition of anaphylactic histamine releasein vitro by GABA

Abstract

Inhibitory effect of GABA on anaphylactic histamine release in vitro is not mimicked by 2-aminoethansulphonic acid (taurine), an aminoacid unrelated to GABA neuro-transmission. Tetrodotoxin (TTX) 6 X 10(-7) M, a concentration known to block neuronal mechanism but not to modify muscle membrane and anaphylactic histamine release, strongly prevented the inhibition caused by GABA in the Schultz-Dale reaction and in anaphylactic histamine release. The inhibitory effect of GABA on anaphylactic reaction in vitro thus appears to be specific for this aminoacid and is neurogenic in nature, in that it requires integrity of neuronal mechanisms.

Type 1 hypersensitivity reactions in reconstructed tissues using syngeneic cell types

“…The Schultz-Dale reaction of the longitudinal muscle strip is unaffected by TTX (Dale & Zilletti, 1970) indicating that intrinsic neuronal nets are not involved in mast cell-mediated contraction. However, y-aminobutyric acid (GABA) does reduce the response to antigen challenge, an effect which is blocked by TTX, indicating that inhibitory neurones can interact with the system (Luzzi et al, 1985). We can find only a single reference for an interaction of TTX with rat peritoneal mast cells, where it was shown that the release of histamine by exaprolol was inhibited by TTX, 1I M, (Nosal et al, 1982 Lazarus et al (1986) described an interaction ofmast cells mediators derived from chopped sensitized lung fragments challenged with ragweed antigen and canine tracheal epithelium.…”