Synonyms
Adrenergic agonists; Direct- and indirect-acting adrenergic receptor agonists; Dopamine agonists; Dopaminergic agonists; Sympathomimetic amines/drugs/agents/compounds
Definition
Catecholamines are a class of biologically active water-soluble hormones comprising catechol and amine compounds. They are derivatives of the amino acid tyrosine. Tyrosine is converted from phenylalanine as a function of the hydroxylation by the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase and can also be directly ingested from dietary proteins (Catecholamines 2002, 2008, 2009a, b).
Catecholamines are sympathomimetic amines, a group of compounds including dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine whose molecular structure is similar to that of a larger class of neurotransmitters, the monoamines. The specific molecular structure of catecholamines is a benzene ring with two hydroxyl groups, an intermediate ethylamine to the side and an amine terminal group. The chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla and sympathetic...
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Sanzone, M., Gonzalez, E.A. (2018). Catecholamines. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1760
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1760
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