MEDIATION BY β-ADRENERGIC RECEPTORS OF EFFECT OF NOREPINEPHRINE ON PINEAL SYNTHESIS OF [14C]SEROTONIN AND [14C]MELATONIN |
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Authors: | R. J. Wurtman H. M. Shein F. Larin |
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Affiliation: | Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts;McLean Hospital Research Laboratory, Belmont, Massachusetts;and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. |
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Abstract: | Rat pineal organs maintained in organ culture converted [14C]tryptophan to [14C]serotonin and [14C]melatonin. The synthesis of both indoles was stimulated by the presence of norepinephrine or dibutyryl adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate. This effect of norepinephrine could be blocked by the α-adrenergic blocking drug, propranolol, but was not modified by the a-adrenergic blocking agent, phenoxybenzamine. Neither blocking agent modified the pineal response to dibutyryl adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate. Unlike dibutyryl adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate, the naturally occurring adenosine phosphates did not stimulate synthesis of [14C]melatonin in vitro. |
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