Abstract
ABSTRACT A 22-month-old Negro girl with metastatic neuroblastoma was found to be excreting markedly elevated levels of dopa, dopamine, VMA and HVA in her urine. To study the catecholamine metabolism in this patient, a solution containing both l-dopa-2,5,6-3H (167 μCi) and dopamine-2-14C (16.7 μCi) was administered intravenously, preoperatively, and serial urine specimens were collected for 48 hr. At laparotomy a 197 g tumor was removed from the region of the left adrenal gland. Dopa, dopamine, HVA, VMA and other metabolites were isolated from the urine specimens and their 3H and 14C contents and 3H/14C ratios were assayed. The urinary excretion rates of 3H and 14C were rapid and 28.5% of the injected 3H-dopa was excreted as 3H-dopamine in 2 hr, while only 5.9% of the 3H-dopa was excreted unchanged during this period. For 14C-dopamine, 11.7% was excreted unchanged and 13.7% was excreted as 14C-HVA. The 3H/14C ratios of urinary norepinephrine were strikingly high (96 to 298) and that of urinary dopamine was...
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