A case report on transitory histamine intolerance from strawberry intake in a 15 month old child with acute gastroenteritis

Background Histamine is a vasoactive amine found in different foods. Di-amine oxidase (DAO) released from apical cells of intestinal mucosa is the responsible metabolizing enzyme for ingested histamine. Histamine excess because of DAO reduced or inhibited activity may mimic an allergic symptomatology, often misleading to food allergy diagnosis instead of histamine intolerance. Viruses, as the main cause of acute gastroenteritis in children, induce apical cell death, lower DAO production levels and increase the intestinal permeability owing to direct and indirect virus -host interactions.