RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 UPTAKE AND ACCUMULATION OF <sup>3</sup>H-6,7-DIHYDROXY-TETRAHYDROISOQUINOLINE BY PERIPHERAL SYMPATHETIC NERVES <em>IN VIVO</em>
JF Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
JO J Pharmacol Exp Ther
FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
SP 56
OP 67
VO 187
IS 1
A1 Steven Locke
A1 Gerald Cohen
A1 Dorothy Dembiec
YR 1973
UL http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/187/1/56.abstract
AB 3H-6,7-dihydroxytetrahydroisoquinoline was prepared by condensation of 3H-dopamine with formaldehyde. When administered intravenously, this 3H-alkaloid was taken up into the mouse heart and into the submaxillary glands and irides of rats. Additionally, uptake into adrenal glands was also observed. Confirmation that uptake was into sympathetic nerve terminals of the heart was achieved by experiments with chemically denervated (6-hydroxydopamine-treated) mice, and by use of catecholamine uptake inhibitors (cocaine and desmethylimipramine). These treatments diminished uptake of the 3H-alkaloid into the heart by 48 to 79%. Similarly, uptake specifically into nerve terminals of the iris and submaxillary gland was identified in experiments with surgically denervated rats (unilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy). Denervation reduced the 3H-alkaloid by 75 to 84% in the iris and by 39 to 53% in the submaxillary gland. The 3H-alkaloid in aluminum hydroxide-purified extracts of tissues was identified by thinlayer chromatography. In denervated preparations, or after cocaine or desmethylimipramine, the 3H-alkaloid was more extensively metabolized. Neuronal 3H-alkaloid was relatively protected from metabolic transformation. The relationship of these observations to a hypothesis about tetrahydroisoquinoline biosynthesis from endogenous catecholamines during ethanol metabolism is discussed. © 1973 by The Williams &amp; Wilkins Company