Pharmacological Reviews, Vol 1, 1-26, Copyright © 1949 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

THE METABOLISM OF ADRENALINE

¹ Department of General Pathology and Therapeutics, The University of Lige, Belgium

The statement formulated in 1905 by Elliott (5) that "adrenalin disappears in the tissues which it excites" is unquestionable. Review of the literature shows 1) that adrenaline may be excreted unchanged in small amounts by the kidneys and stored in the tissues and red blood cells; 2) that its deamination by amineoxidase in the body is unlikely; 3) that an important fraction is sulfoconjugated; 4) that another important fraction is simultaneously oxidized to indole substance; 5) that adrenochrome and its derivatives have important biochemical and physiological properties, entirely different from those of adrenaline, and deserve further study.