Histamine Release from Rat Mast Cells Induced by a Mast Cell Degranulating Fraction in Bee Venom

Abstract

Abstract Bee venom is known to contain high amounts of phosphatidase A and to cause degranulation and histamine release in rat mast cells. In the present study bee venom was fractionated on Sephadex G 50, whereby the phosphatidase A (Fraction F I) was separated from the histamine releasing activity (Fratcion F II). Various aspects of the F II‐induced histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells were studied, namely the dose‐response curve, the time course of the reaction, the pH and temperature dependency, and the influence of inhibitors. It is concluded that this bee venom fraction acts by a mechanism similar to that of compound 48/80. This is in contrast to findings reported for melittin, a histamine releasing bee venom fraction described by other authors.