In: Biology
The purpose of antihistamines is to block the release of histamines, thus
Select one:
a. reversing pupil dilation
b. blocking some symptoms of the allergic response
c. lowering intraocular pressure
d. stopping the allergic response
BLOCKING SOME SYMPTOMS OF THE ALLERGIC RESPONSE.
How histamine and allergy related?
Injured tissue mast cells release histamine, causing the surrounding blood vessels to dilate and increase in permeability.
This causes the visible symptoms of a localizedallergic reaction, including runny nose, watery eyes, constriction of bronchi, and tissue swelling.
How antihistamines act?
Antihistamines bind to histamine receptors on the surface of cells.
There are four types of histamine receptors in the body (H1-H4), with H1 and H2 being most widely expressed.
H1 histamine receptors are found on a variety of cells including airway and vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, eosinophils and neutrophils.
Althoughthe receptors bind histamine, they can also signal constitutively without histamine binding to the cell surface.
Thereis a balance between the active and inactive forms of the receptor.
The presence of histamine stabilises the receptor in its active form while antihistamines stabilise the inactive form of the receptor.
The H1antihistamine drugs therefore act as inverse agonists.