Tissue histamine levels in male and female mast cell deficient mice (W/Wv) and in their littermates (Wv/+, W/+ and +/+).

Histamine levels have been determined in nine tissues of four kinds (W/Wv, Wv/+, W/+, +/+) of WBB6F1 male and female mice, and mast cells have been counted in the skin and the fundus of W/Wv and +/+ mice. By comparison with +/+ mice (1) the association of the two alleles Wv and W induced a drastic decrease in tissues histamine levels and in mast cell number. (2) The allele Wv alone induced a marked decrease in tissue histamine levels but less important than the two alleles W and Wv. (3) In contrast, the allele W alone induced at least in some tissues, an increase in tissue histamine levels. In W/+, Wv/+ and +/+ fertile mice, tissue histamine levels were higher in females than in males. In contrast, in W/Wv mice which are sterile, no difference between males and females was observed.