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Disappearance of Catecholamines from the Circulation

Abstract

ADRENALINE and noradrenaline have a half-life in the circulation of less than 20 s, or less than one circulation time1. In 1905 Elliott2 concluded that “adrenalin disappears in the tissues which it excites”, and since then there have been many studies of the way in which the catecholamines are removed from the circulation. Some of these have shown their destruction or removal by the liver and other abdominal viscera3,4. Analysis of different tissues, after the injection of radioactive adrenaline or noradrenaline, showed that most unchanged catecholamines were found in the heart, spleen and glandular tissues; skeletal muscle took up the least5,6.

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GINN, R., VANE, J. Disappearance of Catecholamines from the Circulation. Nature 219, 740–742 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/219740a0

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