Different neurotransmitter receptor agonists [carbachol, serotonin, noradrenaline, histamine, endothelin-1, and trans-(1S,3R)-aminocyclopentyl-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (trans-ACPD)], known as stimuli of phospholipase C in brain tissue, were tested for phospholipase D stimulation in [32P]Pi-prelabeled rat brain cortical and hippocampal slices. The accumulation of [32P]phosphatidylethanol was measured as an index of phospholipase D-catalyzed transphosphatidylation in the presence of ethanol. Among the six neurotransmitter receptor agonists tested, only noradrenaline, histamine, endothelin-1, and trans-ACPD stimulated phospholipase D in hippocampus and cortex, an effect that was strictly dependent of the presence of millimolar extracellular calcium concentrations. The effect of histamine (EC50 18 microM) was inhibited by the H1 receptor antagonist mepyramine with a Ki constant of 0.7 nM and was resistant to H2 and H3 receptor antagonists (ranitidine and tioperamide, respectively). Endothelin-1-stimulated phospholipase D (EC50 44 nM) was not blocked by BQ-123, a specific antagonist of the ETA receptor. Endothelin-3 and the specific ETB receptor agonist safarotoxin 6c were also able to stimulate phospholipase D with efficacies similar to that of endothelin-1, and EC50 values of 16 and 3 nM, respectively. These results show that histamine and endothelin-1 stimulate phospholipase D in rat brain through H1 and ETB receptors, respectively.