Abstract
KOE and Weissman have demonstrated that p-chlorophenylalanine (pCPA) depletes serotonin in the brain of mammals1. pCPA induces a variety of behaviour changes in rat, cat, and other animals2,3, presumably because of the depletion of serotonin in the brain. The biochemical mechanism of the depletion remains, however, to be elucidated, although it has been proposed that pCPA might inactivate tryptophan hydroxylase in the brain4. We demonstrate here that pCPA does not inactivate tryptophan hydroxylase in rat pineal, although pCPA depletes the serotonin level in the pineal.
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References
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DEGUCHI, T., BARCHAS, J. & BARCHAS, J. Effect of p-Chlorophenylalanine on Tryptophan Hydroxylase in Rat Pineal. Nature New Biology 235, 92–93 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio235092a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio235092a0
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