THE ACTION OF VITAMIN C AND PHENOL OXIDASE IN THE INACTIVATION OF BETA PHENYLISOPROPYLAMINE (AMPHETAMINE)

¹ The Department of Physiology, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison

That amphetamine is capable of undergoing inactivation in the body and the means whereby this may be accomplished have been described.

Through the intermediation of a monohydric phenolic compound (p-cresol) phenol oxidase has been shown to be capable of activating the deamination of beta phenylisopropylamine.

Ascorbic acid may play a rôle in the inactivation of amphetamine. By means of in vitro experiments it was shown that the drug was deaminated in the presence of ascorbic acid and oxygen, buffered at pH 7.0. In dogs the daily administration of 200 or 400 mgm. of vitamin C reduced the excretion of the amine to about 35 per cent of the control output of the animals. In these experiments, then, the excretion of the drug was dependent at least in part on the vitamin C content of the animals. As the ascorbic acid content was increased and more of it made available for inactivation purposes the excretion of the amine was diminished. As the ascorbic acid level of the animal subsided the excretion of amphetamine by the kidney increased to the control levels.

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