Measurement of Histamine in Stinging Insect Venoms by Isotachophoresis

Abstract

An isotachophoretic histamine assay has been developed to determine the histamine content in hymenoptera stinging insect venoms. The amount of histamine was lowest in bee venom (0.9%) while the histamine content of vespid venom extracts varied between 2.7–5.2%. Histamine, determined quantitatively by isotachophoresis, correlated well with the histamine values achieved with reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography.