Mast Cell Stabilizing Properties of Antihistamines

Histamine is a key mediator of allergic inflammation, primarily through competitive antagonism of binding to H1 receptors. In this issue, Weller and Maurer report that the H1 antagonist desloratadine possesses mast cell–stabilizing properties when challenged in an IgE-dependent or -independent fashion. Thus, desloratadine provides benefits that are independent of H1 receptor binding and based on mast cell stabilization