The presence in ergot and physiological activity of [beta]-imidazolylethylamine : (preliminary communication) / by G. Barger and H.H. Dale.

  • George Barger
Date:
1910
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Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: The presence in ergot and physiological activity of [beta]-imidazolylethylamine : (preliminary communication) / by G. Barger and H.H. Dale. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Journal Physiology, Vol. XL. [From the Proceedings of the Physiological Society, June 18, 1910.] The presence in ergot and physiological activity of /3-imid- azolylethylamine. By G. Barger and H. H. Dale. (Pre- liminary communication\) Three physiological actions have been used as indices of the thera- peutic value of ergot and its extracts. (1) Production of gangrene of the cock’s comb. (2) Production of a rise of arterial blood-pressure. (3) Stimulation of the isolated uterus to tonic contraction— preferably the uterus of the non-pregnant cat (Kehrer)1 2. In previous communications we have shown that (1) is due to the specific alkaloid ergotoxine, which has been found only in ergot, and which causes contraction of various plain-muscular organs, followed by the selective paralysis of motor sympathetic effects described by one of us. We showed also that (2) is due not only to ergotoxine, but often in much larger degree to the presence of p-hydroxyphenylethylamine, which is not specific to ergot, being produced also by the action of various micio-organisms on tyrosine. P-hydroxyphenylethylamine, which resembles adrenine in the type of its action, causes relaxation of the non-pregnant cat’s uterus: ergot- oxine has but little effect on it when it is treated as an isolated organ. It was clear that the production of (3) by some specimens of ergot extracts in very small doses must be due to the presence of a third active principle. As Kehrer found, extracts of ergot vary widely in their action on the uterus, as measured by his method, the ergotinum dialysatum of Wernich being especially active. Dialysis in itself does not alter the activity, and it occurred to us that the growth of micro-organisms during dialysis might account for the high degree of activity of the dialysed preparation. This supposition we confirmed by experiment. We further found that a like activity was possessed by commercial extracts of meat and of yeast, so that the third active principle, like ^-hydroxyphenyl- ethylamine, was a substance not peculiar to ergot, and produced by putrefaction as well as by the ergot-fungus.. 1 See also Proc. Chem. Soc. xxvi. p. 128, 1910. 2 Arch. f. exp. Path. u. Phannakol. jwiii. p. 306, 1908.