Increasing the Histamine Level in Keloid Tissue

 Keloid and hypertrophic scars (HTS) results from an imbalance in production and destruction of collagen during wound healing with an unknown underlying pathophysiological mechanism. This study was designed to evaluate the histamine amount in the keloid and hypertrophic scars, and compared the results with normal skin. This pilot study included 36 participants aged from 18 to 70 years old with keloid (n=), HTS (n=13), or normal (n=12) skin. The amount of histamine in the skin samples was measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results showed that the 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 application of anti-histamines could be of benefit for the prevention and treatment of keloids.