A simple determination of catechol-O-methyltransferase activity.

Serotonin-Induced Hypersensitivity via Inhibition of Catechol O-Methyltransferase Activity

The subcutaneous and systemic injection of serotonin reduces cutaneous and visceral pain thresholds and increases responses to noxious stimuli. Different subtypes of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptors are suggested to be associated with different types of pain responses. Here we show that serotonin also inhibits catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT), an enzyme that contributes to modultion the ...

Regioselectivity of Catechol O-Methyltransferase Confers Enhancement of Catalytic Activity.

Catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) metabolizes catechol moieties by methylating a single hydroxyl group at the meta- or para- hydroxyl position. Hydrophobic amino acids near the active site of COMT influence the regioselectivity of this reaction. Our sequence analysis highlights their importance by showing that these residues are highly conserved throughout evolution. Reaction barriers calcula...

Catechol-o-methyltransferase Activity: Assay, Distribution and Pharmacological Modification

Metabolism of catechol estrogens by erythrocyte catechol-O methyltransferase.

Fishman and Tulchinsky (1) present evidence that the catechol estrogen 2hydroxyestrone suppresses serum prolactin in normal ovulatory young women. However, in 3 of the 12 subjects studied the authors were unable to suppress serum prolactin and suggested that prolactin response to 2-hydroxyestrone is subjectand not time-dependent. In a study designed to evaluate the kinetics of catechol estrogen...

Catechol-O-Methyltransferase in Parkinson’s Disease

The introduction of levodopa therapy for Parkinson’s disease (PD), initially by Birkmayer and colleagues in 1961 and Barbeau and colleagues in 1962, and in its ultimately successful form by Cotzias and colleagues in 1967, still represents the defining landmark in the treatment of PD (1–3). This dramatic advance was preceded by methodical basic laboratory research in the late 1950s and early 196...