Cysteamine administration to rats is followed by a high incidence of duodenal ulceration. The effect of cysteamine on the activity of diamine oxidase (DAO, histaminase) in the duodenal mucosa of the rat was investigated. Rats were injected subcutaneously with cysteamine on 2 successive days at doses of 10, 20 and 40 mg/100 g body weight and killed 24 h after the second dose. The results indicated that cysteamine at a dose of 40 mg/100 g body weight inhibited enzyme activity by about 27% (p less than 0.05). Lower doses of cysteamine did not significantly affect enzyme activity. In another experiment, rats were injected subcutaneously with either saline (control) or cysteamine at a single dose of 40 mg/100 g body weight and killed 4, 8, 12, 24, 48 and 60 h thereafter. The ulcerogen produced progressive reductions in enzyme activity, which were significant at 12 h (22% reduction) and 24 h (25% reduction). At 60 h, enzyme activity was not significantly different from that of control.