References(35) Anrep and Barsoum (1) reported that the histamine equivalent in the systemic blood was increased by ligature of the common bile duct in a dog. In accordance with their observations (2) in a perfusion experiment using dog's heart-lung-liver preparations and on the whole animal, that whereas a marked histamine release by bile salts was seen from the liver, no such release was detected from the lungs, heart, intestines, limbs, and other organs, these workers concluded that the increased amount of histamine in the systemic blood had mainly originated from the liver. The fact that the blood histamine level increases during obstructive jaundice is interesting not only because histamine is well known as a substance which causes itching but because it offers a new view-point in the considerations of clinical and pathological problems regarding jaundice.Accordingly, the experiments of Anrep and Barsoum (1) on the experimental obstructive jaundice were followed and the fact of rise of blood histamine level was confirmed. Further examinations were made as to its cause and it was found that some of the bile salts, under a certain condition, released a fair amount of histamine from the skin and at the same time, some new observations were obtained regarding the presence of a definite inhibitory action of these bile salts against histaminase activity, which may also constitute a cause for the increase of blood histamine level. These experimental results are described in the present paper, together with some considerations made on itching during jaundice.
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