Background: Histamine H1-receptor antagonists are used to relieve the symptoms of an immediate allergic reaction. They have additional anti-inflammatory effects that could result from an inhibition of the transcription factors activator protein-1 (AP-1) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB). The implication of the H1-receptor in these effects is controversial. Diphenhydramine is a first-generation H1-receptor antagonist while mizolastine and desloratadine are second-generation compounds. Mizolastine is also an inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO), an enzyme that has been involved in NF-kappaB activation.

Objective: We measured the ability of antihistamines to reverse histamine-induced smooth muscle contraction, an effect that involves the H1-receptor. We then investigated whether these drugs affect NF-kappaB and AP-1 activities in A549 lung epithelial cells, and whether this potential regulation involves H1-receptor and 5-LO.

Methods: Muscle tone was measured on tracheal segments of guinea-pigs. The H1-receptor was overexpressed by transfection and detected by Western blotting and immunofluorescence microscopy. NF-kappaB and AP-1 activities were assessed by reporter gene assays in cells overexpressing or not overexpressing the H1-receptor. Production of regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed andsecreted (RANTES), a chemokine whose expression is induced through NF-kappaB, was measured using an immunoassay.

Results: H1-receptor antagonists reversed histamine-induced contraction in a dose-dependent manner. Induction of AP-1 and NF-kappaB activities by histamine and the down-regulatory effect of antihistamines required overexpression of the H1-receptor. In contrast, when tumour necrosis factor-alpha and a phorbol ester were used to stimulate NF-kappaB and AP-1 activities, respectively, repression of these activities did not involve the H1-receptor. Indeed, repression was triggered only by a subset of H1-receptor antagonists and was not stronger after overexpression of the H1-receptor. Mizolastine and desloratadine dose-dependently decreased tumour necrosis factor-alpha-induced production of RANTES. Diphenhydramine, H2- and H3-receptor antagonists as well as selective inhibitors of 5-LO were ineffective in this assay.

Conclusion: Repression of NF-kappaB and AP-1 activities by H1-receptor antagonists involves H1-receptor-dependent and -independent mechanisms but not 5-LO.