THE EFFECT OF RESERPINE ON THE CATECHOLAMINE AND ADENINE NUCLEOTIDE CONTENTS OF ADRENAL GLAND

¹ Department of Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
² Department of Biochemistry, University of Manitoba Medical School, Winnipeg, Canada

In 14 control fowl the adrenal catecholamine concentration averaged 68.5 ± 13.5 (S.D.) µmol/g. The total adenine nucleotide content averaged 19.5 µmol/g of which almost 60% was ATP and the remainder nearly evenly divided between ADP and AMP. The "equivalence ratio," catecholamines/nucleotides was 1.05 ± 0.11 using chromatography and 1.15 ± 0.14 using enzyme-derived values for nucleotides, respectively.

A single intramuscular injection of 30 mg reserpine was followed by a profound loss from the adrenal medulla of catecholamines and adenine nucleotides. Amines were depleted maximally (about 90%) by one week after the injection and had begun to return toward normal levels only by the third month. Nucleotides were also depleted but there was no increase in the AMP and ADP at the expense of the ATP.

The reserpine-induced loss of catecholamines was disproportionately greater than that of the adenine nucleotides and therefore the "equivalence ratio" fell markedly.

The "equivalence ratio" near unity in the controls favors the concept that catecholamines are stored in ionic linkage with adenine nucleotides. However, the reduction of the "equivalence ratio" by reserpine administration is interpreted to mean that some other constituent of the storage granules may share in the binding complex.