Histamine-mediated delayed permeability response after scald burn inhibited by cimetidine or cold-water treatment

Scald injury to one ear of the hairless mouse induced significant (P < .05) delayed edema formation in remote, uninjured skin. This remote edema formation was completely inhibited by immediate cold-water treatment of the scalded ear. Cold-water treatment significantly reduced histamine loss from the scalded ear, and the edema-inhibiting effect of the treatment could be mimicked by treating the animal prior to injury with the H2-histamine receptor antagonist cimetidine or a drug that causes histamine depletion. These observations suggest (i) that a histamine-mediated, delayed permeability response occurs after thermal injury that causes remote edema formation and (ii) that one mechanism of remote edema inhibition by cold-water treatment is the prevention of histamine release from thermally injured tissues.