What produces hives?
Mast cell degranulation is the mechanism behind hives. In simple terms, certain little white blood cells are going bonkers and firing histamine. Mast cells fire in response to antigens (invaders, real or perceived) that come into your body either by contact (skin), inhalation or digestion. Antigens are also produced within the body by other factors, such as inflammation or systemic illnesses such as cancer, thyroid disease or lupus. Besides histamine, mast cells also fire heparin, chrondroitin sulfates, neutral proteases, acid hydrolases and other enzymes. On the surface of these mast cells are little receptors for IgE (immunoglobulin E antibody). Think Velcro®. When an antigen comes into the body it “sticks” to the IgE receptors. When the mast cell gets loaded it starts firing its weapons(degranulating) and it encourages other mast cells as well as other inflammatory cells (basophils and leukotrienes) to fire also. As the mast cells fire, they release histamine. Histamine and other ma
