Inotropic effects of histamine have been studied extensively in many species, but data on porcine myocardium, often used as a model for human heart, are not available. We investigated inotropic effects of histamine on atrial and ventricular trabeculae obtained from porcine hearts. For comparison, we also evaluated the effects of histamine on human myocardium. Histamine caused concentration-dependent increases in contractile force in porcine and human atrial tissue [at 1 x 10(-3) M: 267 +/- 70 and 317 +/- 81 mg, or 133 +/- 17 and 85 +/- 12% of the response to 1 x 10(-5) M norepinephrine (NE), respectively], as well as in porcine and human ventricular tissue (at 1 x 10(-3) M: 592 +/- 148 and 773 +/- 203 mg, or 68 +/- 13 and 122 +/- 61% of response to 1 x 10(-5) M NE, respectively). Cimetidine, but not mepyramine, antagonized the contractile effects of histamine in porcine and human atrial tissue and in human ventricular tissue. In contrast, the histamine-induced positive inotropic effect in porcine ventricular tissue was antagonized by mepyramine but not by cimetidine. Propranolol failed to block the inotropic effect of histamine in all four tissues. These results indicate that, as with human atrial trabeculae, the positive inotropic effect on porcine atrial trabeculae is mediated by H2 receptors. In contrast to human ventricular trabeculae, however, the positive inotropic effect on porcine ventricular trabeculae appears to be mediated by H1 receptors.