Epinephrine and norepinephrine concentrations in plasma of humans and rats.

THE FLUORIMETRIC METHOD of Weil-Malherbe and Bone (1, 2), with minor modifications, has been applied successfully in this laboratory to the measurement of epinephrine and norepinephrine in the plasma of normal human subjects and rats subjected to traumatic injury. The measurement of these hormones in normal rats has been reported elsewhere (3). This report describes the modifications (resulting from the use of materials readily available in this country) which have been made, the precision and accuracy of the method, using both human and rat plasma, proof of specificity of the method as applied to rat plasma catechol amines, and the measurement of plasma catechol amines in human subjects of various ages.