Mechanism catecholamines

Lemberger L, Rowe H, Carmichael R, Crabtree R. Clinical studies with drugs affecting biogenic amine mechanisms. Catecholamines Basic clinical frontiers. In Proceedings, 4th International Catecholamine Symposium, 1979, part 2, pp. 1923-1924. 

Selected for clinical trials as a compound to calm agitated patients, imipramine was relatively ineffective. However, it was observed to be effective in the treatment of certain depressed patients (38). Early studies on the mechanism of action showed that imipramine potentiates the effects of the catecholamines, primarily norepinephrine. This finding, along with other evidence, led to the hypothesis that the compound exerts its antidepressant effects by elevating norepinephrine levels at central adrenergic synapses. Subsequent studies have shown that the compound is a potent inhibitor of norepinephrine reuptake and, to a lesser extent, the uptake of serotonin, thus fitting the hypothesis that had been developed to explain the antidepressant actions ofMAOIs. 

Although blood pressure control follows Ohm s law and seems to be simple, it underlies a complex circuit of interrelated systems. Hence, numerous physiologic systems that have pleiotropic effects and interact in complex fashion have been found to modulate blood pressure. Because of their number and complexity it is beyond the scope of the current account to cover all mechanisms and feedback circuits involved in blood pressure control. Rather, an overview of the clinically most relevant ones is presented. These systems include the heart, the blood vessels, the extracellular volume, the kidneys, the nervous system, a variety of humoral factors, and molecular events at the cellular level. They are intertwined to maintain adequate tissue perfusion and nutrition. Normal blood pressure control can be related to cardiac output and the total peripheral resistance. The stroke volume and the heart rate determine cardiac output. Each cycle of cardiac contraction propels a bolus of about 70 ml blood into the systemic arterial system. As one example of the interaction of these multiple systems, the stroke volume is dependent in part on intravascular volume regulated by the kidneys as well as on myocardial contractility. The latter is, in turn, a complex function involving sympathetic and parasympathetic control of heart rate intrinsic activity of the cardiac conduction system complex membrane transport and cellular events requiring influx of calcium, which lead to myocardial fibre shortening and relaxation and affects the humoral substances (e.g., catecholamines) in stimulation heart rate and myocardial fibre tension. 

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... 

Cocaine and desipramine inhibit the reuptake of monoamine neurotransmitters whereas amphetamine, which is a phenylalkylamine - similar in structure to the catecholamines, see Fig. 4 - competes for uptake and more importantly, evokes efflux of the monoamine neurotransmitters. All of them exert antidepressant effects. Cocaine and amphetamine are addictive whereas tricyclic antidepressants and their modern successors are not. The corollaty of the addictive properties is interference with DAT activity. Blockade of DAT by cocaine or efflux elicited by amphetamine produces a psychostimulant effect despite the different mechanisms even the experienced individual can hardly discern their actions. Because of the risk associated with inhibiting DAT mediated dopamine clearance the antidepressant effects of psychostimulants has not been exploited. 

At low doses, ketamine may result in impairment of attention, learning ability, and memory, and at high doses it has been associated with delirium, amnesia, impaired motor function, hypertension, depression, and respiratory depression (Krystal et al. 1994). Another mechanism of action appears to be a blocking of the reuptake of catecholamines. This effect leads to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure (Reich and Silvay 1989). 

Hynes MD, Berkowitz BA Catecholamine mechanisms in the stimulation of mouse locomotor activity hy nitrous oxide and morphine. Eur J Pharmacol 90 109-114, 1983... 

The amino acid tyrosine is the starting point in the synthesis of the catecholamines and of the thyroid hormones tetraiodothyronine (thyroxine T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) (Figure 42-2). T3 and T4 are unique in that they require the addition of iodine (as T) for bioactivity. Because dietary iodine is very scarce in many parts of the world, an intricate mechanism for accumulating and retaining T has evolved. 

As the rate-limiting enzyme, tyrosine hydroxylase is regulated in a variety of ways. The most important mechanism involves feedback inhibition by the catecholamines, which compete with the enzyme for the pteridine cofactor. Catecholamines cannot cross the blood-brain barrier hence, in the brain they must be synthesized locally. In certain central nervous system diseases (eg, Parkinson s disease), there is a local deficiency of dopamine synthesis. L-Dopa, the precursor of dopamine, readily crosses the blood-brain barrier and so is an important agent in the treatment of Parkinson s disease. 

MTX caused a contraction of vascular smooth muscle and positive inotropic, positive chronotropic and arrhythmogenic effects on cardiac muscle. The effect of MTX was little affected by various receptor blockers, a Na channel blocker or a catecholamine depleting agent. Further, MTX had no effect on the enzymes which were related to Ca movements, such as Na , K -ATPase, cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase, and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca -ATPase. These results would eliminate the possible involvement of an indirect action elicited by the release of chemical mediators and direct modifications of their receptors, Na channels, or various enzymes as a major mechanism of action of MTX. 

Delgado, PL, Miller, HE, Salomon, RM, Licinio, J, Heninger, GR, Gelenberg, AJ and Charney, DS (1993) Monoamines and the mechanism of antidepressant action effects of catecholamine depletion on mood of patients treated with antidepressants. Psychopharmacol. Bull. 29 389-396. 

Mechanism of Action Lithium s pharmacologic mechanism of action is not well understood and probably involves multiple effects. Possibilities include altered ion transport, increased intraneuronal catecholamine metabolism, neuroprotection or increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor, inhibition of second messenger systems, and reprogramming of gene expression.29... 

Inhibition of monoamine oxidase has been proposed as a possible mechanism underlying the hydrogen sulfide-mediated disruption of neurotransmission in brain stem nuclei controlling respiration (Warenycia et al. 1989a). Administration of sodium hydrosulfide, an alkali salt of hydrogen sulfide, has been shown to increase brain catecholamine and serotonin levels in rats. It has also been suggested that persulfide formation resulting from sulfide interaction with tissue cystine and cystinyl peptides may underlie some... 

The primary mechanism used by cholinergic synapses is enzymatic degradation. Acetylcholinesterase hydrolyzes acetylcholine to its components choline and acetate it is one of the fastest acting enzymes in the body and acetylcholine removal occurs in less than 1 msec. The most important mechanism for removal of norepinephrine from the neuroeffector junction is the reuptake of this neurotransmitter into the sympathetic neuron that released it. Norepinephrine may then be metabolized intraneuronally by monoamine oxidase (MAO). The circulating catecholamines — epinephrine and norepinephrine — are inactivated by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) in the liver. 

Because duration of activity of the catecholamines is significantly longer than that of neuronally released norepinephrine, the effects on tissues are more prolonged. This difference has to do with the mechanism of inactivation of these substances. Norepinephrine is immediately removed from the neuroeffector synapse by way of reuptake into the postganglionic neuron. This rapid removal limits duration of the effect of this neurotransmitter. In... 

Large, non-lipid-soluble molecules may cross the capillary wall by transcytosis. This mechanism involves the transport of vesicles from one side of the capillary wall to the other. Many hormones, including the catecholamines and those derived from proteins, exit the capillaries and enter their target tissues by way of transcytosis. 

Ramsey A., Fitzpatrick P. (1998). Effects of phosphorylation of serine 40 of tyrosine hydroxylase on binding of catecholamines evidence for a novel regulatory mechanism. Biochemistry 37, 8980-6. 

Horn, A.S., Characteristics of transport in dopamine neurons, in The Mechanism of Neuronal and Extraneuronal Transport of Catecholamines, Paton, D.M., Ed., Raven Press, New York, 195, 1976. 

The most commonplace substrates in energy-transfer analytical CL methods are aryl oxalates such as to(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate (TCPO) and z s(2,4-dinitrophenyl) oxalate (DNPO), which are oxidized with hydrogen peroxide [7, 8], In this process, which is known as the peroxyoxalate-CL (PO-CL) reaction, the fluorophore analyte is a native or derivatized fluorescent organic substance such as a polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon, dansylamino acid, carboxylic acid, phenothiazine, or catecholamines, for example. The mechanism of the reaction between aryl oxalates and hydrogen peroxide is believed to generate dioxetane-l,2-dione, which may itself decompose to yield an excited-state species. Its interaction with a suitable fluorophore results in energy transfer to the fluorophore, and the subsequent emission can be exploited to develop analytical CL-based determinations. 

The concentration of catecholamines within nerve terminals remains relatively constant. Despite the marked fluctuations in the activity of catecholamine-containing neurons, efficient regulatory mechanisms modulate the rate of synthesis of catecholamines [ 11 ]. A long-term process affecting catecholamine synthesis involves alterations in the amounts of TH and DBH present in nerve terminals. When sympathetic neuronal activity is increased for a prolonged period of time, the amounts of mRNA coding for TH and DBH are increased in the neuronal perikarya. DDC does not appear to be modulated by this process. The newly synthesized enzyme molecules are then transported down the axon to the nerve terminals. 

In addition, two mechanisms operative at the level of the nerve terminal play important roles in the short-term modulation of catecholamine synthesis and are responsive to momentary changes in neuronal activity [12]. TH, the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis pathway, is... 

---