Histidine Decarboxylase Activity Assay Kit (F)

Histidine decarboxylase (HDC, 4.1.1.22) is an enzyme that catalyzes the decarboxylation of histidine to form histamine. Histamine is a very critical biogenic amine in mammals and plays a key regulatory role in neurotransmission, inflammamation, gastric acid secretion, allergy and immune response. HDC activity is the primary source of histamine in most mammals and eukaryotes and this metabolite cannot be produced by any other known enzyme. In humans, HDC is primarily expressed in mast cells and basophil granulocytes. But it is also present in non-mast cells including brain and kidney. Besides mammals, HDC is abundant in histamine-producing bacteria such as Photobacterium phosphoreum and Raoultella planticola, which can cause histamine poisoning in foods such as fish and cheese. BioVison’s Histidine Decarboxylase Activity Assay Kit is designed to determine the HDC activity in various samples. In this assay, HDC converts histidine to produce histamine, which then reacts with the HDC probe to generate a strong fluorescent signal measured at Ex/Em = 535/587 nm. The fluorescent signal is directly proportional to the HDC activity in the samples. The assay is simple, fast and is high throughput adaptable. The kit can detect as low as 0.01 mU of HDC activity in samples under assay conditions.