VASOPRESSOR COMPONENTS OF PHEOCHROMOCYTOMAS

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The 3 pheochromocytomas available for study all contained substantial amts. of pressor agents. In the 2 instances in which differential analyses were performed they were found to contain approx. 50 and 90% of the pressor content as 1-nor-epinephrine, judged by bioassay. All the pressor content of the tumors could be accounted for by the presence of l-epinephrine and its precursors. These amines were found to be freely ultrafilterable from tumor homogenates, indicating that they were neither bound on nor a part of more complex structures. No conjugated pressor amine could be found in the tumors and no free compound was detected in the urine. In one instance a conjugated compound having the nature of epinephrine was found to be present in urine obtained during a paroxysm of hypertension. A correlation between the preoperative diagnostic tests and the vasopressor components of these tumors has been made. The reliability of various diagnostic tests has been discussed in the light of these findings. The data presented herein are consistent with the hypothesis that arterenol (nor-epinephrine) is the immediate precursor of epinephrine in the body and that within the pheochromocytoma there is an impairment of that trans-methylation reaction.