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Sulphate Conjugation and L-Dopa Treatment of Parkinsonian Patients

Nature volume 244, pages 447–450 (1973)Cite this article

Abstract

CONJUGATION of catecholamines in man was first described for adrenaline by Richter in 19401. He suggested that the conjugated product was an ester of sulphuric acid. Richter and MacIntosh2 later demonstrated that conjugation of adrenaline markedly reduced its presser properties and proposed that conjugation is a mechanism of inactivation of the biological properties of this amine. Holtz and Credner3 administered L-dopa to several animals including man and isolated both free and conjugated dopamine (DA) from urine. Conjugation of two metabolites of DA, homovanillic acid (HVA) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), was observed by Shaw, McMillan and Armstrong4 when they isolated these two phenolic acids from the urine of human subjects who had received L-dopa orally. The conjugates of these compounds can be isolated by anion exchange chromatography5,6. When conjugated derivatives in the eluates from anion exchange columns were hydrolysed by sulphuric acid5,6 or sulphatase5, the unconjugated parent compounds were identified by paper chromatography.

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  1. Departments of Pharmacology and Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, Denver, Colorado, 80220

    CHARLES O. RUTLEDGE & MARGARET M. HOEHN

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  1. CHARLES O. RUTLEDGE
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  2. MARGARET M. HOEHN
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RUTLEDGE, C., HOEHN, M. Sulphate Conjugation and L-Dopa Treatment of Parkinsonian Patients. Nature 244, 447–450 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/244447b0

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