Catecholamine Metabolism in Pheochromocytoma and Normal Adrenal Medullae

No AccessJournal of Urology1 Dec 1988Catecholamine Metabolism in Pheochromocytoma and Normal Adrenal Medullae Teruhiro Nakada, Hidekatsu Furuta, and Takashi Katayama Teruhiro NakadaTeruhiro Nakada , Hidekatsu FurutaHidekatsu Furuta , and Takashi KatayamaTakashi Katayama View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5347(17)42041-6AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail The tissue contents of catecholamine, its precursor and its major metabolites were determined in 8 human pheochromocytomas and 26 normal adrenal glands. Pheochromocytomas contained significantly larger amounts of norepinephrine, dopamine, dihydroxyphenylalanine, tyrosine hydroxylase activity, metanephrine, normetanephrine and vanillylmandelic acid than did normal adrenal medullae. The content ratio of epinephrine/norepinephrine in normal adrenal medullae was significantly higher than that in pheochromocytomas but there were considerable individual variations in the metanephrine/normetanephrine and vanillylmandelic acid/3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethylglycol ratios in pheochromocytomas. In normal adrenal medullae the tissue content of tyrosine hydroxylase activity correlated inversely with the tissue contents of epinephrine (r equals −0.78, p less than 0.001), norepinephrine (r equals −0.78, p less than 0.001) and total catecholamines (r equals −0.87, p less than 0.001), respectively but no significant relation was found between both parameters in pheochromocytomas. These results indicate the possible presence of a negative feedback mechanism of catecholamine via tyrosine hydroxylase in normal adrenal medullae but none in pheochromocytomas. In addition, the increased degradation catecholamine pathway in pheochromocytomas appears to be unstable compared to that in normal adrenal medullae. © 1988 by The American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byNakada T, Sasagawa I, Kubota Y, Suzuki H, Ishigooka M and Watanabe M (2018) Dihydroxyphenylglycol in Pheochromocytoma: Its Diagnostic Use for Norepinephrine Dominant TumorJournal of Urology, VOL. 155, NO. 1, (14-18), Online publication date: 1-Jan-1996.Nakada T, Kubota Y, Suzuki H, Sasagawa I, Watanabe M and Ishigooka M (2018) Suppression of Sympathetic Nervous System Attenuates the Development of Two-Kidney, One-Clip Goldblatt HypertensionJournal of Urology, VOL. 156, NO. 4, (1480-1484), Online publication date: 1-Oct-1996.Nakada T, Kubota Y, Sasagawa I, Yagisawa T, Watanabe M and Ishigooka M (2018) Remarkably Suppressed Manganese Superoxide Dismutase Activity in Malignant PheochromocytomaJournal of Urology, VOL. 153, NO. 6, (1787-1790), Online publication date: 1-Jun-1995. Volume 140Issue 6December 1988Page: 1348-1351 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 1988 by The American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.Metrics Author Information Teruhiro Nakada Current address: Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan. More articles by this author Hidekatsu Furuta More articles by this author Takashi Katayama More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...