Title: histamine
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - histamine
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11809
Status: current

Definition
Bioactive metabolite produced in living organisms by deamination of the amino acid histidine.

Note
Histamine acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. It also serves as a mediator in the regulation of various body functions such as gastric secretion, bronchial constriction, vasorelaxation, and local inflammation.

Related Terms
- Scombroid poisoning: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12066
- brain: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/11647
- inflammation: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/11830
- neurotransmitter: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/11955
- vasorelaxation: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12160

Source
- PAC, 2015, 87, 841. 'IUPAC Glossary of terms used in neurotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2015)' on page 873 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0103)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11809/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11809/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11809/xml

Citation: Citation: 'histamine' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11809
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-04-17T23:54:31+00:00