A new spectrofluorimetric method for determination of trace amounts histamine in human urine and serum.

A new spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of trace amounts of histamine in human urine and serum samples. In NaAc-HAc buffer solution of pH 4.0, histamine can react with the acetylacetone-formaldehyde system to produce a fluorescent derivative which emits yellow-green fluorescence at 476 nm, according to the Hantzsch reaction, and the enhanced fluorescence intensity is in proportion to the concentration of histamine. Optimum conditions for the determination of histamine were also investigated. The dynamic range and detection limit for the determination of histamine is 5.96 x 10(-8)-1.50 x 10(-5 )mol/L and 4.35 x 10(-8)mol/L, respectively. This method is practical and can be successfully applied to determination of histamine in human urine and serum samples. A proposal of the reaction pathway is suggested.