Infertility Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Infertility, including details on male and female infertility, treatment, causes, pregnancy.

Evidence for a histaminergic system in the human testis.

Albrecht M, Frungieri MB, Gonzalez-Calvar S, Meineke V, Köhn FM, Mayerhofer A

Anatomisches Institut am Biederstein, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Biedersteiner Strasse 29, 80802 Munich, Germany. M.Albrecht@lrz.uni-muenchen.de

The complete lack of information about mast cells as a source of histamine and potential target cells for histamine in human testes prompted us to investigate these issues in testes of fertile and infertile patients using a combination of laser microdissection, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and immunohistochemistry. We show for the first time the expression of the rate-limiting enzyme in histamine synthesis-histidine decarboxylase-by human testicular mast cells and the expression of the histamine (H) receptors 1 (H1) and 2 (H2) by germinal, interstitial, and peritubular cells in the testes of fertile and infertile patients.

Published 11 April 2005 in Fertil Steril, 83(4): 1060-3.
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