The phenolic amines of human urine.

The phenolic amines include substances such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, whose physiological importance has been known for many years, and some other amines of recent interest whose biological significance is less clear; these include dopamine (1) and octopamine (2). It is probable that still others exist and have a physiological function in some tissues of the body. The concentration of these amines in blood and tissues is very low so their detection and measurement is difficult. They are destroyed rapidly by monoamine oxidase and other enzyme systems, but small amounts are excreted and may be detected in urine. The value of measurement of elevated catecholamine excretion for the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma and of serotonin for argentaffinoma has been firmly established, and recently interest has developed in the smaller variations in the amount of catecholamines excreted during various physical and psychic stresses. The increasing clinical use of monoamine oxidase inhibitors has stimulated interest in the resulting increased excretion of amines, both from the standpoint of appraisal of the effectiveness of the dosage of the drug used and in connection with the mechanism of the therapeutic effects of the drugs. Despite the increasing interest in phenolic amines, few detailed accounts and no systematic studies of the phenolic amines in urine have appeared. Such studies are necessary to gain information on which amines are of endogenous origin and hence of greater physiological interest, which ones may arise from dietary precursors, and which ones may be formed in the gut by the intestinal flora. This paper describes a simple procedure for concentrating, purifying, and detecting the free and conjugated phenolic amines in urine by adsorption on an ion exchange resin followed by two-dimensional paper chromatography. The characteristics of the phenolic amines which have been observed in urine from many healthy persons are described, and some new amines have been identified.