Interesting - Nettles = Serontonin & Histamine

[MomWithOCDSon]

Watching a science show today with DS and saw some information which was new, to me at least.

 

These kids in Wales were conducting their own science experiment, stripping down to their skivvies and diving into patches of nettles. Obviously, they swelled up with welts and had dramatic emotional responses to the physical pain of the nettles.

 

Then the scientists chimed in. Said that the nettles themselves contained serotonin and histamine which, once the protective tip of the nettle was broken off by interaction with an animal, was effectively injected into the animal, provoking both the physical (sting, itch, welt) and emotional (panic, pain) responses!

 

I'd never heard that before, though I've encountered nettles a few times on hikes, camp-outs, etc. Now it makes me curious as to whether or not other plants, animal species contribute the same chemicals, rather than merely invoking a response by the recipient or host?