Norepinephrine, biological

Norbolethone, 151 Norepinephrine, biological effects, 38 Norethindrone, 145 Norgestrel, 151 19-Nortestosterone, 142 Nucleophilic aromatic substitution, 64, 65,... 

FIGURE 3-27 Three-dimensional chromatogram for oxidizable biological compounds at a multichannel amperometric detection system, consisting of an array of 16 carbon-paste electrodes held at different potentials. AA = ascorbic acid NE = norepinephrine DOPAC = 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid 5-HIAA = 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid DA = dopamine HVA = homovanillic acid. (Reproduced with permission from reference 68.)... 

It is appropriate at this juncture to illustrate the power of chemiluminescence in an analytical assay by comparing the limits of sensitivity of the fluorescence-based and the chemllumlnescence-based detection for analytes in a biological matrix. The quantitation of norepinephrine and dopamine in urine samples will serve as an illustrative example. Dopamine, norepinephrine, and 3,4-dihydroxybenzy-lamine (an internal standard) were derivatized with NDA/CN, and chemiluminescence was used to monitor the chromatography and determine a calibration curve (Figure 15). The limits of detection were determined to be less than 1 fmol injected. A typical chromatogram is shown in Figure 16. 

Important products derived from amino acids include heme, purines, pyrimidines, hormones, neurotransmitters, and biologically active peptides. In addition, many proteins contain amino acids that have been modified for a specific function such as binding calcium or as intermediates that serve to stabilize proteins—generally structural proteins—by subsequent covalent cross-hnk-ing. The amino acid residues in those proteins serve as precursors for these modified residues. Small peptides or peptide-like molecules not synthesized on ribosomes fulfill specific functions in cells. Histamine plays a central role in many allergic reactions. Neurotransmitters derived from amino acids include y-aminobutyrate, 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin), dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. Many drugs used to treat neurologic and psychiatric conditions affect the metabolism of these neurotransmitters. 

The catecholamines dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine are neurotransmitters and/or hormones in the periphery and in the CNS. Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter in the brain as well as in postganglionic, sympathetic neurons. Dopamine, the precursor of norepinephrine, has biological activity in the periphery, most particularly in the kidney, and serves as a neurotransmitter in several important pathways in the CNS. Epinephrine, formed by the N-methylation of norepinephrine, is a hormone released from the adrenal gland, and it stimulates catecholamine receptors in a variety of organs. Small amounts of epinephrine are also found in the CNS, particularly in the brainstem. 

In addition to their well known role in protein structure, amino acids also act as precursors to a number of other important biological molecules. For example, the synthesis of haem (see also Section 5.3.1), which occurs in, among other tissues, the liver begins with glycine and succinyl-CoA. The amino acid tyrosine which maybe produced in the liver from metabolism of phenylalanine is the precursor of thyroid hormones, melanin, adrenaline (epinephrine), noradrenaline (norepinephrine) and dopamine. The biosynthesis of some of these signalling molecules is described in Section 4.4. 

Hormones are intercellular messengers. They are typically (1) steroids (e.g., estrogens, androgens, and mineral corticoids, which control the level of water and salts excreted by the kidney), (2) polypeptides (e.g., insulin and endorphins), and (3) amino acid derivatives (e.g., epinephrine, or adrenaline, and norepinephrine, or noradrenaline). Hormones maintain homeostasis—the balance of biological activities in the body for example, insulin controls the blood glucose level, epinephrine and norepinephrine mediate the response to the external environment, and growth hormone promotes normal healthy growth and development. 

Hashimoto Y, Miyazaki H. 1979. Simultaneous determination of endogenous norepinephrine and dopamine-beta-hyrox-ylase activity in biological materials by chemical ionization mass fragmentography. J Chromatogr 168 59. 

Hows ME, Lacroix L, Heidbreder C, Organ AJ, Shah AJ. 2004. High-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric assay for the simultaneous measurement of dopamine, norepinephrine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and cocaine in biological samples. J Neurosci Methods 138 123. Hows ME, Organ AJ, Murray S, Dawson LA, Foxton R, et al. 

Fig. 9.8 Examples of rule-of-three compliant molecules that have biological activity better than 10 nM. Under each molecule, the following information is included molecule name, MW, ClogP, the biological activity type, value and target. Target names are as follows D3 and D4 - dopaminergic receptor types 2 and 3 AChE and BChE - acetyl- and butyryl-choline esterases PRa and PRb - progesterone receptor types A and B H] and H3, histamine receptor types 1 and 3 5-HT2a, 5-HT2b, 5-HT2c, 5-HT3, 5-HT4 - serotonin receptor subtypes 2A, 2B, 2C, and types 3 and 4 DAT, NET, 5-HTT - dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin transporter proteins /X], /x.2, S, ki, ks - opioid receptor types mu-1, mu-2, delta, kappa-1 and kappa-3 5a-Rl and 5o -R2 - 5-alpha-reductase isozymes 1 and 2 Flt-1-fms-like tyrosine kinase receptor.

Adrenergic drugs are natural or synthetic compounds that either partially or completely replicate the effects of norepinephrine (noradrenaline), epinephrine (adrenaline), and dopamine, and which cause a biological response similar to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. They are also referred to as sympathomimeties beeause they mimic the stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system. 

The adrenal medulla synthesizes two catecholamine hormones, adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine) (Figure 1.8). The ultimate biosynthetic precursor of both is the amino acid tyrosine. Subsequent to their synthesis, these hormones are stored in intracellular vesicles, and are released via exocytosis upon stimulation of the producer cells by neurons of the sympathetic nervous system. The catecholamine hormones induce their characteristic biological effects by binding to one of two classes of receptors, the a- and )S-adrenergic receptors. These receptors respond differently (often oppositely) to the catecholamines. 

Atomoxetine (Straterra , originally tomoxetine or tomoxetin, 3) was first described and synthesized by chemists at Eli Lilly in the late 1970s and was one of the few compounds that was known to display meaningful selectivity for the norepinephrine reuptake transporter (NET) versus the serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT) and the dopamine reuptake transporter (DAT) (Barnett, 1986 Molloy and Schmiegel, 1997). Atomoxetine was one of several structurally related and commercially successful monoamine reuptake inhibitors that were developed by Lilly for the treatment of various psychiatric disorders (Eig. 17.4). Fluoxetine (43) and duloxetine (44) have both gained approval in the United States as Prozac and Cymbalta , respectively, and nisoxetine (45) is widely used as a tool in biology. 

Dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (adrenalin) are biologically active amines that are collectively termed catecholamines. Dopamine and norepinephrine function as neurotransmitters in the brain and the autonomic nervous system. Norepinephrine and epinephrine are also synthesized in the adrenal medulla. 

ADRENAL MEDULLA HORMONES. Adrenaline (epinephrine) and its immediate biological precursor noradrenaline (norepinephrine, levartei-nol) are the principal hormones of the adult adrenal medulla. See Fig.l. Some of the physiological effects produced by adrenaline arc contraction of the dilator muscle of the pupil of the eye (mydriasis), relaxation of the smooth muscle of the bronchi constriction of most small blood vessels dilation of some blood vessels, notably those in skeletal muscle increase in heart rate and force of ventricular conlraction relaxation of the smooth muscle of the intestinal tract and either contraction or relaxation, or both, of uterine smooth muscle. Electrical stimulation of appropriate sympathetic (adrenergic) nerves can produce all the aforementioned effects with exception of vasodilation in skeletal muscle. 

The first major theory about the biological etiology of depression hypothesized that depression was due to a deficiency of monoamine neurotransmitters, notably norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5HT]) (Figs. 5 — 13 through... 

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