C. Kilts, J. Vrbanac, D. Rickert
Feb 1, 1977
Citations
0
Influential Citations
10
Citations
Journal
Journal of Neurochemistry
Abstract
4-H~~~ox~-3-methoxyphenylethylamine (3-methoxytyramine, 3-MT) is an intermediate in the metabolism of 3,4 dihydroxyphenylethylamine (dopamine, DA) from which it is formed via 0-methylation by the action of the enzyme catechol-0-methyl transferase. To date quantitative determination of 3-methoxytyramine has been based on fluorometric techniques (CARLSSON & WALDECK, 1964; LAVERTY & TAYLOR, 1968; JONAS & SCHEEL-KRUGER, 1969; KASER & THOMKE, 1970; GULDBERG et al., 1971; MEWHA & RAVAL, 1973). The oxidation of amines to fluorescent derivatives suffers from characteristic limitations: contamination by substances forming similar fluorophors, difficulty in accurately measuring blank levels and a nonlinear relationship between concentration and fluorescent intensity due to quenching. The use of mass fragmentography in the quantitative determination of the biogenic amines and their metabolites (KOSLOW et al., 1972; KAROUM et al., 1972; KAROUM et al., 1975) offers useful advantages in terms of increased sensitivity, specificity and speed. In addition, mass fragmentography permits quantitation of related compounds in a single sample thereby eliminating the need for elaborate separation techniques prior to quantitation. This paper describes the use of such a method for determination of dopamine and 3-methoxytyramine in a single rat caudate nucleus.