Biological significance of ECL-cell histamine
In the oxyntic mucosa of the mammalian stomach, histamine is stored in enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells and in mucosal mast cells. The activity of the histamine-forming enzyme, histidine decarboxylase (HDC), is high in ECL cells but lower in the mucosal mast cells. We studied the consequences of depleting ECL-cell histamine by continuous infusion of the HDC inhibitor a-fluoromethylhistidine (a-FM