The fate of indolethylamine in the organism / by A.J. Ewins and P.P. Laidlaw.

  • Ewins, Arthur James.
Date:
1913
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The fate of indolethylamine in the organism / by A.J. Ewins and P.P. Laidlaw. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    [From THE BIOCHEMICAL JOURNAL, Vol. VII, No. 1, January, 1913] [All Rights reserved] II. THE FATE OF INDOLETHYLAMINE IN THE ORGANISM. By ARTHUR JAMES EWINS and PATRICK PLAYFAIR LAIDLAW. From the Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories, Herne Hill. (.Received November 10th, 1912.) It has been shown by several observers that the naturally occurring amino-acids are readily attacked by bacteria, and that among other products the corresponding amines are formed [Winterstein and Kuntz, 1909; Barger and Walpole, 1909; Ackermann, 1910; see Barger, 1911, for other references]. It appears probable that they are produced in the intestine in the course of the normal life of the organism and also in certain pathological conditions. Their fate after absorption is therefore a matter of considerable importance. The amines of this type have in most cases been submitted to physiological investigation [Dale and Dixon, 1909; Ackermann and Kutscher, 1910; Dale and Laidlaw, 1910], and in several cases they have been shown to be active substances. The method by which the body deals with such bases has not been investigated so thoroughly. Some time ago we showed [Ewins and Laidlaw, 1910] that p-hydroxy- phenylethylamine was largely converted into p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid and excreted as such; that the liver and the plain muscle of the body, with the exception of the plain muscle of the lung vessels, could effect the change : and that successive methylation of the amino-group rendered the base increasingly resistant to destruction in the body. Another example of a change of precisely the same type is met with in the fate of benzylamine, which was shown by Mosso [1890] to be almost quantitatively converted into benzoic acid and excreted as hippuric acid. We undertook the investigation of the mode of destruction of indolethylamine (/3-indole-pr-3-ethylamine) in order to see whether it was dealt with in a similar manner, and whether its administration would increase the kynurenic acid output in dogs. The indolethylamine used was made according to the synthesis devised by one of us [Ewins, 1911], which readily gives a good yield of the base.