Histamine and Other Biogenic Amines in Food. From Scombroid Poisoning to Histamine Intolerance

Histamine is a biogenic amine involved in important physiological activities in the organism, but its ingestion through food is associated with the onset of health disorders. Histamine intoxication, previously known as scombroid fish poisoning, is caused by the intake of foods with high levels of histamine. According to official European Union reports, more than 90% of the outbreaks registered in the last years were caused by the consumption of fish and seafood products. Histamine intolerance, on the other hand, arises when histamine degradation is impaired, mainly by a lower diamine oxidase (DAO) activity. Some of the uncertainties classically associated with histamine intoxication may be explained by this enzymatic deficit in a sensitive population. This chapter reviews the adverse effects of histamine from food within a risk analysis framework, focusing specifically on the components of risk assessment and management

Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art

Histamine intolerance, also referred to as enteral histaminosis or sensitivity to dietary histamine, is a disorder associated with an impaired ability to metabolize ingested histamine that was described at the beginning of the 21st century. Although interest in histamine intolerance has considerably grown in recent years, more scientific evidence is still required to help define, diagnose and clinically manage this condition. This article will provide an updated review on histamine intolerance, mainly focusing on its etiology and the existing diagnostic and treatment strategies. In this work, a glance on histamine intoxication will also be provided, as well as the analysis of some uncertainties historically associated to histamine intoxication outbreaks that may be better explained by the existence of interindividual susceptibility to ingested histamine