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Cardiovascular effects of histamine in three widely diverse species of reptiles

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Abstract

The cardiovascular system of vertebrates is regulated by a vast number of regulatory factors, including histamine. In pythons, histamine induces a strong tachycardia and dilates the systemic vasculature, which resembles the cardiovascular response to the elevated metabolic rate during digestion. In fact, there is an important role of increased histaminergic tone on the heart during the initial 24 h of digestion in pythons. Whilst the cardiovascular effects of histamine are well studied in pythons, little is known about the effects in other groups of reptiles. The histaminergic effects on the heart vary among species and histamine may exert either pressor and depressor effects by causing either constrictive or dilatory vascular responses. Here, we investigated the cardiovascular effects of histamine in three species of reptiles with very different cardiovascular and pulmonary morphologies. Experiments were performed on both anesthetized and recovered animals. We show a species-dependent effect of histamine on the systemic vasculature with dilation in rattlesnakes and constriction in turtles and caimans but no effect on the pulmonary circulation. The histamine-induced dilation in rattlesnakes was mediated through an activation of H2-receptors, whereas the histamine-induced constriction in caimans was mediated through both adrenergic signaling and H1-receptors activation. In all three species, histamine-induced tachycardia by direct stimulation of histaminergic receptors as well as an indirect activation of adrenoreceptors. This finding highlights a more complex mechanism underlying the action of histamine than previously recognized in reptiles.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Danish Research Council. EWT was supported in Brazil by FAPESP (2012/06938-8) and is currently a Visiting Researcher with the Science Without Borders Programme (CNPq 401061/2014-0).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, C.f. Møllers Allé 3, Building 1131, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Nini Skovgaard & Tobias Wang

  2. Departamento de Zoologia, Centro de Aquicultura, UNESP, Rio Claro, Brazil

    Nini Skovgaard, Augusto S. Abe, Edwin W. Taylor & Tobias Wang

  3. School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Edwin W. Taylor

Authors
  1. Nini Skovgaard
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  2. Augusto S. Abe
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  3. Edwin W. Taylor
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  4. Tobias Wang
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Correspondence to Nini Skovgaard.

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Communicated by H.V. Carey.

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Skovgaard, N., Abe, A.S., Taylor, E.W. et al. Cardiovascular effects of histamine in three widely diverse species of reptiles. J Comp Physiol B 188, 153–162 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-017-1108-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-017-1108-3

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