Increased level of Histamine in keloid Tissue

Keloid and hypertrophic scars (HTS) caused by an imbalance between the production and destruction of collagen during wound healing with an unknown underlying pathophysiological mechanism. This study was designed to evaluate the histamine level in the Keloid and HTS and comparison of results with normal skin.

This pilot study included 36 participants, aged from 18 to 70 years with keloid (n=11), HTS (n=13) and normal (n=12) skin. The level of histamine in the skin samples was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Histamine level in keloid samples was significantly higher than in the normal (p=0.0012) or HTS (p=0.0028) groups. However, there was no significant difference between the normal and HTS samples (p=0.92).

The increased histamine level in the keloid tissue may contribute to its pathogenesis and the application of anti-histamines could be of benefit for the prevention and treatment of keloids.