The Emerging Role of the Histamine H4 Receptor in Anti-inflammatory Therapy

Antagonists for the Histamine H 1 receptor have been on the market for decades and continue to be successfully used in the treatment of a variety of allergic conditions. The recently discovered histamine H4 receptor subtype is emerging as a new and complementary target for treating inflammatory conditions. In this review, we describe the receptor protein, its putative role in (patho)physiology and the latest ligands that are being developed to explore the feasibility of the H4 receptor as a drug target.