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SummaryThe effect of subcutaneously administered histamine on the quantity of protein-bound hexose, hexosamine, sialic acid, seromucoid polysaccharides and urinary mucoproteins has been investigated. The experiments were made on guinea pigs, rats, and patients suffering from locomotor diseases. In response to histamine the amount of these polysaccharides increased in 66 per cent and decreased in 33 per cent of the animals and human subjects tested. At the same time, the composition of the serum mucoprotein soluble in 75 per cent alcohol showed an opposite change. The response to histamine is much more marked in the patients suffering from diseases of the locomotor system than in the normal subjects and within the former group it is more marked in polyarthritis and rheumatic fever than in the non-inflammatory conditions. This effect of histamine was completely blocked by an antihistaminic and cortisone in animal experiments.