Observational study shows that diaminooxidase supplementation may alleviate symptoms of histamine intolerance

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A recent observational study¹ found that diaminooxidase (DAO) supplementation may alleviate the allergy-like symptoms of histamine intolerance (HIT). In the study, 82 subjects with HIT were given a daily supplement containing 4.2 mg of DAO (DAOgest from Barcelona, Spain-based Bioiberica), Vitamin C & Catalase before their main daily meal. Researchers evaluated symptoms using a standardized questionnaire from baseline and every week until the end of the study. Subjects were asked to rate the severity of five HIT symptom subcategories from zero to five. These symptoms include nervous system, gastrointestinal, respiratory, skin, and circulatory.

Results showed that subjects experienced significant improvements in all HIT-symptom subcategories after one week compared to baseline. These include a 90% improvement in gastrointestinal and skin symptoms, a greater than 80% improvement in nervous system and respiratory symptoms and a 38% improvement in circulatory symptoms. These improvements were maintained throughout the study, but there was no significant differences from week one to week four. The perception of recovery was greater than 50% for 85% of subjects except for circulatory symptoms.

“Histamine intolerance continues to be a prevalent yet largely unaddressed digestive health issue – and we’re committed to advancing research in the field for this very reason,” said Andrea Terradillos, R&D project manager at Bioiberica, in a press release. “The decision to conduct an observational study was driven by the complex nature of identifying individuals with the condition and the scarcity of robust studies examining the real-world effects of histamine intolerance solutions,”

“Our advice for formulators in the space is to pair DAOgest with vitamin C as it boosts the histamine degrading capacity of DAO and consequent histamine breakdown,” added Terradillos. “In a separate investigation , we’ve provided evidence that this combination exhibits higher enzymatic activity compared to other commercially available DAO products.”

Reference

1. O’Connor, M.E.; Terradillos-Guillén, A.; Gálvez-Martín, P.; Martínez-Puig, D. Observational Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Diaminooxidase (DAO) Supplementation in Patients with Histamine Intolerance (HIT). Clinical Nutrition ESPEN. 2023, 58. DOI: 10.1016/j.clnesp.2023.09.892