The Contribution of cocoa additive to cigarette smoking addiction

Page 86 of 207 RIVM report 650270002
Histamine
symptoms within 30 min.
Histamine level is increased either by mediators (at food allergy) or by inhibition of
the histamine metabolism (by nicotine or putrefactive amines). Increased sodium
intake seems to increase the hyperresponsiveness to histamine reactions in asthmatic
men. It is unclear whether histamine increases the permeability of the respiratory
mucosa to other compounds.
Histamine is used as a diagnostic and for therapeutic purposes. It does not seem to
have any beneficial effects on the respiratory system.
It seems that histamine dose in cigarette smoking is not high enough to evoke any
bronchoconstrictory effects. However, the (longterm) effects of histamine or its
pyrolysis/combustion products on the pulmonary system are unknown and need
further study. Histamine is absorbed through the respiratory system. However, due to
the rapid histamine metabolisation it is not expected that the histamine dose in
cigarettes will be enough to affect the plasma histamine level. The histamine dose of
cigarette smoking does not seem to be high enough to exert toxicological effects.
Therefore, more studies are needed on:
- the determination of pyrolysis/combustion products of histamine in cigarette
smoke;
- the local (respiratory system) effects of long-term use of histamine and their
pyrolysis/combustion products or other biogenic amines via inhalation.
Date this sheet was generated
Based on literature available in December 2001.
REFERENCES
(1) The Merck Index. Electronic version 12:1 . 1996. Chapman & Hall EPD.
(2) The Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB). HSDB . 1-1-2001. Electronic
Version.
(3) Brandweerinformatiecentrum voor gevaarlijke stoffen (BIG). Electronic
version 9.0, 2001. Belgium.
(4) Histamine Martindale. MARTINDALE - The Complete Drug Reference
Browser version 2.00.000. 2001. Micromedex Inc. Electronic Version.
(5) Roemer E, Hackenberg U. Mouse skin bioassay of smoke condensates from
cigarettes containing different levels of cocoa. Food Addit Contam, 1990;
7(4):563-569.
(6) Baker GB, Wong-James TF, Coutts RT, Pasutto FM. Simultaneous extraction
and quantitation of several bioactive amines in cheese and chocolate. J
Chromatogr,1987; 392:317-331.
(7) ten Brink B, Damink C, Joosten HM, Huis-in-'t-Veld-JH. Occurrence and