Elevation of the plasma histamine concentration in the coronary circulation in patients with variant angina

In the present study plasma histamine was found to be elevated in the great cardiac vein in 8 of 11 variant angina patients, but in none of 8 control patients. Although further investigation is required to determine the exact cause-and-effect relation between histamine release and provocation of spontaneous variant anginal attacks, the present study presents clinical evidence that histamine may well be related to episodes of variant angina as suggested in animal studies.