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Effects of the noradrenaline metabolites on tyrosine hydroxylase activity in guinea-pig atria

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Summary

The effects of noradrenaline, its five metabolites and metanephrine, were studied on tyrosine hydroxylase activity in guinea-pig atria. The deaminated metabolite, (±)-3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol (DOPEG), was equipotent with (±)-noradrenaline in its inhibitory action on tyrosine hydroxylase activity in the homogenates of guinea-pig atria. The inhibition by DOPEG was competitive with the cofactor, reduced pteridine. The deaminated acid, 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid (DOMA) and the O-methylated deaminated acid, 3-methoxy, 4-hydroxymandelic acid (VMA) had 1/50th and 1/30th, respectively, the potency of noradrenaline in inhibiting tyrosine hydroxylase. The rest of the metabolites did not inhibit tyrosine hydroxylase in homogenates in concentrations up to 1.0 mM. In intact guinea-pig atria noradrenaline was considerably more potent than DOPEG in inhibiting tyrosine hydroxylase. Normetanephrine 1.4×10−4 M inhibited tyrosine hydroxylase in the intact tissue but failed to inhibited the enzyme in the homogenate even in higher concentrations. The effect of normetanephrine in the intact tissue is related to the ability of this compound to release endogenous noradrenaline.

A reserpine-like agent, Ro 4-1284, did not inhibit tyrosine hydroxylase activity in the homogenate but in the intact tissue the inhibition was more than 50%. This effect of Ro 4-1284 in the intact tissue appears to be related to the releasing effects of this agent and to an increase in the axoplasmic levels of DOPEG.

Since the formation of the deaminated glycol, DOPEG, represents the main metabolic pathway for the neurotransmitter in adrenergic nerve endings, the present results are compatible with the view that, in addition to the pool of extravesicular noradrenaline, the cytoplasmic concentration of DOPEG could also participate in the regulation of the activity of tyrosine hydroxylase.

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  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    M. C. Rubio & S. Z. Langer

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  1. M. C. Rubio
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  2. S. Z. Langer
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Rubio, M.C., Langer, S.Z. Effects of the noradrenaline metabolites on tyrosine hydroxylase activity in guinea-pig atria. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 280, 315–330 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00501354

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