Mouse Colonic Epithelial Cells Functionally Express the Histamine H Receptor.

We hypothesized that, in mice, histamine via the histamine receptor subtype 4 (HR) on colon epithelial cells affects epithelial barrier integrity, perturbing physiologic function of the colonic mucosa and thus aggravating the severity of colitis. To test this hypothesis, bone marrow-chimeric mice were generated from HR knockout (HR) and wild-type (WT) BALB/cJ mice and subjected to the dextrane sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced acute colitis model. Clinical symptoms and pathohistological derangements were scored.