Quantitative Measurements of Biogenic Amines and Their Metabolites in the Brain of Fish and Amphibians

✍ Scribed by R. Ellis; G.D. Lawrence

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 213 KB
• Volume: 47
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0026-265X
• DOI: 10.1006/mchj.1993.1011

✦ Synopsis

The neurotransmitters, norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine and serotonin, and the metabolites of dopamine and serotonin, homovanillic acid and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, respectively, were measured in the brains of one species of fish (Trichogaster trichopterus), one species of adult frogs (Xenopus laevis), and one species of tadpoles (Rana catesbeiana). A substance with retention time close to that of norepinephrine interfered with quantitation of that neurotransmitter in several of the samples. The levels of epinephrine in the amphibian brains were found to be very high ( (>10 \mathrm{nmol} / \mathrm{g}) wet wt). Only trace amounts of homovanillic acid were found in the brains of these species. The latter results are discussed with respect to catechol (O)-methyltransferase activity in the brains of these animals. (\mathbb{C} 1993) Academic Press. Inc.