Effect of histamine on blood flow to the adrenal glands of pigs.

Blood flow to the adrenal glands was measured with radioactive microspheres labeled with 85Sr in 25-37 kg pigs following the intravenous infusion of physiological saline solution or histamine solution (2 micrograms/kg/min) for 60 minutes. Total blood flow averaged 2.28 ml/min/gland for control pigs and 4.38 ml/min/gland for histamine-treated pigs (P less than .0005). Mean blood flow to the adrenal glands of histamine-treated pigs (3.15 ml/min/g) was 82% higher than that of control pigs (1.73 ml/min/g); the difference was highly significant (P less than .0005). The result of this study showed that histamine caused an increased blood flow to the porcine adrenal glands.