Norepinephrine, biosynthesis

Introduction of chlorine or bromine into the 3- and/or 4- positions of the side chain yields more potent compounds in terms of hypotension in rats and dopamine p- hydroxylase inhibition (31. 32). The analog YP-279 (XXXV) is also hypotensive in rats but is said not to affect brain norepinephrine biosynthesis unlike fusaric acid or dibromofusaric acid (33-35). Fusaric acid amide (bupicomide, Sch 10595, XXXVI) is clinically effective at 300 to 1800 mg per day and is said to have hemodynamic effects similar to hydralazine (36. 37). The amide is... 

Inhibition of norepinephrine biosynthesis can be achieved quite well by chronic oral administration of the tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor CH-methyl-p-tyrosine (LXII) but reduction in blood pressure was not achieved in patients with essential hypertension (77). Another potent inhibitor, 3-iodotyrosine (LXIII) was also inactive in man (78). Apparently, substantial reduction of norepinephrine (50-70%) is not enough to achieve the desired effect. 

Metyrosine (23, a-methyl-L-tyrosine), a norepinephrine biosynthesis inhibitor, is in limited clinical use to help control hypertensive episodes and other symptoms of catecholamine overproduction in patients with the rare adrenal tumor pheochromocytoma (10). Metyrosine, a competitive inhibitor of tyrosine hydroxylase, inhibits the production of catecholamines by the tumor. Although metyrosine is useful in treating hypertension caused by excess catecholamine biosynthesis... 

In a related vein, the subjective psychostimulant effects of amphetamine were attenuated following a 2-h pretreatment with a tyrosine- and phenylalanine-free amino acid mixture (118).These amino acids are biosynthetic precursors of the catecholamines, and deprivation would be expected to produce transient reductions in endogenous dopamine and norepinephrine. The authors concluded that tyrosine depletion attenuates the release of dopamine required for the psychostimulant effect. Interestingly, the pretreatment did not reduce the subjective appetite-suppressant (anorectic) effect of amphetamine. The study authors attributed this latter finding to a continued release of norepinephrine by amphetamine. Tyrosine depletion, however, would also attenuate norepinephrine biosynthesis and it may be more reasonable to conclude that the anorectic effect might be related to the often-overlooked ability of amphetamine to release neuronal serotonin. 

Nagatsu T, Levitt M, Udenfriend S. Tyrosine hydroxylase, the initial step in norepinephrine biosynthesis. 

Nagatsu, T., Levitt, M. and Udenfriend, S. (1964) Tyrosine hydroxylase the initial step in norepinephrine biosynthesis. J. Biol. Chem. 239 2910-29117. 

Biosynthesis of norepinephrine takes piace within adrenergic neurons near the terminus of the axon and junction with the effector cell. The biosynthetic pathway (Fig. 13,1) begins with the active transport of the amino acid L-tyrosine into the adrenergic neuron cell (1). In the first step within the cytoplasm, the enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase (tyrosine-3-monooxygenase) oxidizes the 3 position of tyrosine to form the catechol amino acid L-dopa. This is the rate-limiting step in norepinephrine biosynthesis, and the activity of tyrosine hydroxylase is carefully controlled (3). The enzyme is under feedback inhibition control by product catecholamines and is... 

As discussed in Chapter 12, the central mechanism for the antihypertensive activity of the pro-drug methyidopa is not caused by its inhibition of norepinephrine biosynthesis but, rather, by its metabolism in the CNS to a-methyinorepinephrine, an Q2-adrenergic agonist (9). Other more powerful inhibitors of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (e.g., carbidopa) have proven to be clinically useful, but not as antihypertensives. Rather, these agents are used to inhibit the metabolism of exogenous L-DOPA administered in the treatment of Parkinson s disease (see Chapter 24). 

Another tentative explanation is based on the negative feedback mechanism known to operate in norepinephrine biosynthesis [230]. In man [67], pargyline produces a marked reduction in norepinephrine turnover. As the... 

Levine, M., Morita, K., and Pollard, H., 1985, Enhancement of norepinephrine biosynthesis by ascorbic acid in cultured bovine chromaffin cells, J. Biol. Chem. 260 12942-12947. 

Figure 11.16 The biosynthesis of epinephrine from norepinephrine occurs by an Sjyj2 reaction with S-acfenosylmethionine.

As the result of a screening program examining microbial fermentation products for pharmacological activity (other than antibiotic activity), fusaric acid (10) was isolated from Fusarium oxysporum following the discovery that extracts were potent inhibitors of dopamine p-hydroxylase, and thus interfered with the biosynthesis in vivo of the pressor neurohormone, norepinephrine. To refine this lead, amidation of 10 via the acid chloride was carried out... 

Some less obvious phenomena of catecholamine transport and biosynthesis further illustrate the complexities of deciphering how efferents from midbrain dopamine neurons contribute to sleep-wake regulation. The plasma membrane norepinephrine transporter (NET), which is responsible for the uptake of extracellular noradrenaline, can also readily transport dopamine, and does so in vivo. This... 

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. 

Adrenal Conical Hormones. The adrenal gland is made up of two parts, the medulla and the cortex, each of which secretes characteristic hormones. The hormones of the adrenal medulla art- the catecholamines, epinephrine adrenalin and norepinephrine (noradrenalint. which are closely related chemically, dil lning only in that epinephrine has an added methyl group. See Table I. In fact, animal experiments have established a metabolic pathway lor Ihe biosynthesis of both compounds Irom Ihe ammo acid pheny lal.inine. which involves enzy malic oxidation and decarboxylation reactions It is also to he noted ihui the isomeric form of norepinephrine is most important the natural D-lonn (which incidentally, is levorntatory) has many times die uciiviiy of die synthetic isomer. Epinephrine has a pronounced action upon the circulatory system, increasing both blood... 

Levodopa (L-dopa) is a natural intermediate in the biosynthesis of catecholamines in the brain and peripheral adrenergic nerve terminals. In the biologic sequence of events it is converted to dopamine, which in turn serves as a substrate of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. Levodopa is used successfully in the treatment of Parkinson s syndrome, a disease characterized by dopamine deficiency. When levodopa is administered to an individual with this syndrome, the symptoms of Parkinson s disease are ameliorated, presumably because the drug is converted to dopamine and thereby counteracts the deficiency. Individuals treated with levodopa, especially older men, have been observed to experience a sexual rejuvenation. This effect has led to the belief that levodopa stimulates sexual powers. Consequently, studies with younger men complaining of decreased erectile ability have shown that levodopa increases libido and the incidence of penile erections. Overall, however, these effects are short lived and do not reflect continued satisfactory sexual function and potency. Thus, levodopa is not a true aphrodisiac. The increased sexual activity experienced by parkinsonian patients treated with levodopa may reflect improved well-being and partial recovery of normal sexual functions that were impaired by Parkinson s disease. 

The most abundant alkaloid in Coryphantha macromeris, normacromerine, has been shown to originate from tyrosine (330). Tyramine and JV-methyltyramine are efficiently incorporated into normacromerine while octopamine and dopamine are poor precursors. Norepinephrine, epinephrine, normetanephrine, and meta-nephrine have all been shown to be biosynthetically incorporated into normacromerine, and they have also been shown to be naturally occurring trace intermediates in this cactus species (331, 334). Normacromerine is only slowly converted to macromerine in C. macromeris (332). The results indicate that alternative pathways to normacromerine exist precise conclusions regarding the biosynthesis of normacromerine must await further studies. 

Histamine, serotonin and the catecholamines (dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine) are synthesized from the aromatic amino acids histidine, tryptophan and phenylalanine, respectively. The biosynthesis of catecholamines in adrenal medulla cells and catecholamine-secreting neurons can be simply summarized as follows [the enzyme catalysing the reaction and the key additional reagents are in square brackets] phenylalanine — tyrosine [via liver phenylalanine hydroxylase + tetrahydrobiopterin] —> i.-dopa (l.-dihydroxyphenylalanine) [via tyrosine hydroxylase + tetrahydrobiopterin] —> dopamine (dihydroxyphenylethylamine) [via dopa decarboxylase + pyridoxal phosphate] — norepinephrine (2-hydroxydopamine) [via dopamine [J-hydroxylasc + ascorbate] —> epinephrine (jV-methyl norepinephrine) [via phenylethanolamine jV-methyltransferase + S-adenosylmethionine]. 

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