The effects of ethanol on catecholamine and serotonin metabolism in man : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biochemistry at Massey University
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Date
1981
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Massey University
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Abstract
Chemical and gas chromatographic methods for the estimation of catecholamine and serotonin metabolites in normal urine have been investigated with the aim of applying them to the study of the effects of ethanol on biogenic amine metabolism. It was concluded that both methods would be incapable of accurately demonstrating any changes in urinary metabolite levels that were expected to occur as a consequence of ethanol ingestion. A GCMS technique for quantitating five acidic catecholamine and serotonin metabolites was developed, and was found to exhibit excellent specificity and sensitivity. When applied to the analysis of alcoholic metabolites, the technique was subject to interference from extraneous compounds, and further development is required. The GCMS technique was applied to the analysis of catecholamine and serotonin metabolites in the urine of normal male adults who had ingested ethanol. It was concluded that ethanol induces a shift in metabolism away from oxidative toward reductive pathways for adrenaline, noradrenaline and serotonin, but not for dopamine. An increased HVA excretion observed after ethanol ingestion was shown to be possibly due to the diuretic effect of ethanol. This work provides a clarification of the diverse results previously reported in the literature, but it was, however, concluded that there are still several aspects of this field of alcohol research that require estensive investigation before a complete understanding of the ways in which ethanol influences catecholamine and serotonin metabolism can be achieved.
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Metabolism, Alcohol