Direct Stimulatory Effect of Histamine on Aldosterone Secretion of the Perfused Dog Adrenal Gland

The left adrenal gland of the hypophysectomized-nephrectomized dog was perfused in situ with the blood from the femoral artery of the hypophysectomized-nephrectomized donor dog. After infusion of histamine (0.1 mg/min for 5 min) into the arterial inflow circuit, the rates of secretion of aldosterone, corticosterone and cortisol (ng/100 mg adrenal wt. each min) increased from the basal level of 0.66±0.21 (mean±S.E.M.) to 2.24±0.45 at 10 min, from 4±1 to 20±4 at 5 min and from 19±5 to 64± 15 at 5 min, respectively. The maximal increments above the basal value after the infusion of histamine in the secretory rates of aldosterone, corticosterone and cortisol were 51, 16, and 13 % that of the respective steroid after the infusion of ACTH (20 mIU/min for 5 min). The results indicate that histamine has a direct stimulatory effect on the secretion of aldosterone by the adrenal gland as well as on that of corticosterone and cortisol.