Brain amines

Amine Brain area Normal M. Parkinson References... 

Cocaine (tertiary amine) Brain stimulant widely abused drug... 

The chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla may be considered to be modified sympathetic neurons that are able to synthesize E from NE by /V-methylation. In this case the amine is Hberated into the circulation, where it exerts effects similar to those of NE in addition, E exhibits effects different from those of NE, such as relaxation of lung muscle (hence its use in asthma). Small amounts of E are also found in the central nervous system, particularly in the brain stem where it may be involved in blood pressure regulation. DA, the precursor of NE, has biological activity in peripheral tissues such as the kidney, and serves as a neurotransmitter in several important pathways in the brain (1,2). 

A number of quaternary amines are effective at modulating nerve transmissions. They often have the disadvantage of being relatively nonselective and so possess numerous sideeffects. This contrasts with the advantage that they do not cross the blood-brain barrier and so have no central sideeffects. Clo-... 

Demethylation of the tricyclic antihistamine 9, with cyanogen bromide gives the secondary amine 10 acylation of that intermediate with ethyl chloroformate affords the nonsedating H-1 antihistaminic agent loratidine (11) [3], It is of interest that this compound does not contain the zwitterionic funcrion which is thought to prevent passage through the blood-brain barrier, characteristic of this class of compounds. 

Mood and hedonic value associated with feeding, food intake, foraging, consummatory behaviors, and craving in addiction complex regulation by food entrainable oscillators in the brain and periphery, neuropeptides (including orexins) and biogenic amines. 

The original monoamine hypothesis of depression states that depressions are associated with a deficiency of catecholamines, particularly norepinephrine, at functionally important adrenergic receptor sites in the brain. Elation conversely may be associated with an excess of such amines. The hypothesis was articulated in 1966 only after the mechanism of action of the tricyclic antidepressant desipramine and of the psychostimulants... 

The rate of synthesis is similar for trace amines and monoamine neurotransmitters, however, trace amines undergo a more rapid turnover due to their higher affinity to MAO and the lack of comparable cellular storage. Thus, the tissue concentration of trace amines in the vertebrate central nervous system is estimated to be in the range of 1-100 nM, depending on the trace amine and brain area, in contrast to micromolar concentrations of classic monoamine neurotransmitters. 

Due to their physicochemical properties trace amines can pass the cell membrane to a limited extent by passive diffusion, with the more lipophilic PEA and TRP crossing membranes more readily than the more polar amines TYR. and OCT. In spite of these features, trace amines show a heterogeneous tissue distribution in the vertebrate brain, and for TYR. and OCT storage in synaptic vesicles as well as activity-dependent release have been demonstrated. So far, trace amines have always been found co-localized with monoamine neurotransmitters, and there is no evidence for neurons or synapses exclusively containing trace amines. 

Fuxe K, Andersson K, Nilsen OG, et al Toluene and telencephalic dopamine selective reduction of amine mrnover in discrete DA nerve terminal systems of the anterior caudate nucleus by low concentrations of toluene. Toxicol Lett 12 115—123,1982 Cause EM, Mendez V, Geller I Exploratory smdies of a rodent model for inhalant abuse. Neurobehav Toxicol Teratol 7 143—148, 1985 Gentry JR, Hill C, Malcolm R New anticonvulsants a review of applications for the management of substance abuse disorders. Ann Clin Psychiatry 14 233—245, 2002 Gerasimov MR, Ferrieri RA, Schiffer WK, et al Smdy of brain uptake and biodistribution of [llCjtoluene in non-human primates and mice. Life Sci 70 2811 — 2828, 2002... 

Rea TM, Nash JF, Zabik JE, et al Effects of toluene inhalation on brain biogenic amines in the rat. Toxicology 31 143-1450, 1984 Rebert CS, Matteucci MJ, Pryor GT Acute electrophysiologic effects of inhaled toluene on adult male Long-Evans rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 33 157—165, 1989 Reynolds JEF Martindale The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 28th Edition. London, Pharmaceutical Press, 1982, pp 745-746... 

Kumar MVS, Desiraju T. 1992. Effect of chronic consumption of methyl parathion on rat brain regional acetylcholinesterase activity and on levels of biogenic amines. Toxicology 75 13-20. 

Ansari RA, Husain K, Gupta PK. 1987. Endosulfan toxicity influence on biogenic amines of rat brain. 

Usdin, E and Sandler, M (1976) Trace Amines and the Brain. Marcel Dekker, New York. 

Richelson, E and Pfenning, M (1984) Blockade by antidepressants and related compounds of biogenic amine uptake into rat brain synaptosomes most antidepressants selectively block noradrenaline uptake. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 104 277-286. 

Electrochemical techniques in vivo use the standard three electrode voltammetric system described earlier with the electrodes implanted in the brain of the animal subject. Measurements are made by acquiring some stable baseline signal and then stimulating release of the biogenic amine neurotransmitters. The change in signal is then a measure of the concentration of neurotransmitter in the extracellular fluid. 

These are four monoamines synthesized and seereted within many mammalian tissues, ineluding various regions in the brain, sympathetic nervous system, enlero-chromafhn cells of the digestive tract, and adrenal mednlla. These biogenic amines (indoleamine and catecholamines — dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine) are synthesized within the cell from their precursor amino acids and have been associated with many physiological and behavioral functions in animals and humans. 

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