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Histamine is one of the biogenic amines produced naturally in the human body, but also in foods, especially those rich in protein. Exogenous and endogenous histamine is subject to degradation in vivo, but in the case of sensitive groups, including children, these degradation processes may be less intense, resulting in adverse health effects from histamine excess. The aim of the study was to determine the histamine content in jarred baby foods containing fish, taking into account the selected product characteristics and storage conditions. The study included 140 meals with added fish, intended for infants and young children, from 5 leading manufacturers available in Poland. The infant meals were analyzed on the day of opening, after 24 h and 48 h of storage in the refrigerator and at room temperature. Histamine concentration was determined by ELISA. The THQ was calculated from the EDI values for histamine. Histamine was present in all analyzed baby foods. On the day of opening, the products had a lower content of this monoamine (Me = 2.59 mg/kg), which increased systematically during storage. Samples taken at 2 °C after 48 h showed an average histamine content of 4.4 mg/kg, while products stored at 22 °C at the same time showed a 1.8-fold higher concentration of this monoamine (Me = 7.9 mg/kg). Dishes containing tuna and sea fish had higher histamine levels on average than those containing pollock. The storage conditions of the children’s food had a significant effect on histamine concentration. The level of histamine in baby foods was related to the amount and type of fish in certain products. The results indicate the need for increased awareness of the risks associated with histamine, especially in a group of people with increased sensitivity to this amine, which may include infants and young children.

Background: There are no data on the characteristics and outcomes for patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced (HFrEF), mildly reduced (HFmrEF), and preserved (HFpEF) ejection fraction diagnosed according to the universal definition and classification of HF., Aims: We used the universal HF definition to compare baseline characteristics, hospital readmission and mortality rates in individuals with HFrEF, HFmrEF, and HFpEF diagnosed retrospectively., Results: The study was designed as a single-center retrospective analysis of all consecutive 40732 hospital admissions between 2013 and 2021 in a tertiary department of cardiology. All patients with HF, defined according to the universal definition and classification of HF, were identified. The study included 8471 patients with a mean age of 65.1 (12.8) years, of whom 2823 (33.3%) were females. Most individuals had a prior diagnosis of HF (76.3%) and elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels (99.0%) with a median of 1548 (629-3786) pg/ml. Mean ejection fraction (EF) was 36.2 (14.9)%. The median follow-up was 39.1 (18.1-70.5) months. The most frequent type of HF was HFrEF (n = 4947; 58.4%), followed by HFpEF (n = 1138; 28.2%) and HFmrEF (n = 2386; 13.4%). Urgent HF readmissions and all-cause deaths were highest in HFrEF (40.8% and 42.7%), followed by HFmrEF (25.4% and 31.5%) and HFpEF (15.2% and 23.8%, respectively)., Conclusions: The highest rates of urgent HF readmissions and all-cause mortality were observed in patients with HFrEF, followed by HFmrEF and HFpEF. In all HF groups, the all-cause mortality rate was higher than the rates of urgent HF readmission.