Adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations in rat tissues

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Abstract
The method of Weil-Malherbe and Bone (1952, 1953) for estimating epinephrine and norepinephrine in blood was extended to rat tissues; satisfactory evidence for its specificity was obtained in a number of ways, including paper chromatography and comparison with bio-assay. Epinephrine and norepinephrine were estimated in 9 rat tissues; mean values, in [mu]mg/g of tissue, were norepinephrine (epinephrine), heart 530 (160); brain 440 (210); spleen 260 (64); diaphragm 220 (54); kidney 160 (43); liver 80 (22); retroperitoneal fat 69 (19); lung 62 (23); leg muscles 52 (15). The proportion of epinephrine in mixtures of norepinephrine and epinephrine varied from 20 to 34%; it was highest in brain and lung. It is concluded that norepinephrine may not be confined to adrenergic-nerve endings.