[Role of changes in blood serotonin and histamine concentrations in the pathogenesis of pneumonia in burns].

Sixty patients with associated burn disease and pneumonia were examined for the time course of the content of serotonin and histamine in the blood. In patients with pneumonia, the concentration of biogenic amines in the blood was substantially higher than in healthy subjects and in patients with similar burns as regards the severity without pneumonia. High concentration of biogenic amines in the blood was discovered to lead to functional and morphological lesions in the lungs favouring pneumonia development. High content of serotonin and histamine in the blood ascertained immediately after burns allows for the possibility of pneumonia development.