Figure 8: Prescription pattern of drugs for variceal bleeding in patients with alcoholic liver disease Propranolol 82.26% Octreotide 6.45% Ethamsylate 8.06%
Adrenochrome 1.61% Tranexamic acid 1.61% Note: Table made from pie chart.
Genova and coworkers [97] had shown that mitocondrial complex I is involved both in initial generation of superoxide and in the reduction of
adrenochrome to its semiquinone form.
At the first meeting in 1952 of the Saskatchewan Committee for Schizophrenia Research, Duncan Hutcheon told us that discoloured adrenalin contained the red-pigmented oxidation product
adrenochrome. The
adrenochrome hypothesis of schizophrenia followed.
For example, it has been proposed that in oxidative lesion of the myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, it occurs the epinephrine autooxidation in
adrenochrome, associated with [O.sub.2] formation.
It did not cover, for example,
adrenochrome, featured in the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Hoffer's theory of the illness is that, under stress, schizophrenics produce an excess of
adrenochrome, which is derived from adrenaline, and that
adrenochrome can produce hallucinations and personality changes.
Dobutamine can be oxidized to
adrenochrome, which produces a bright pink color (Eli Lilly, technical information on file); oxidation of dobutamine by peroxide /peroxidase, however, has not been described.
The increase in absorbance of
adrenochrome was monitored at 25[degrees]C for 3 min at [lambda]=480 nm.
This method is based on the inhibition of autoxidation of epinephrine to its
adrenochrome. A mixture of 580 [micro]L PBS, 200 [micro]L of each extract or standard, and 200 [micro]L of liver, kidney, kidney, and heart homogenate and 20 [micro]L of inducing solution was introduced into different test tubes and incubated at 37[degrees]C for 1h.
This oxidation generates
adrenochrome, which is measured at 480 nm with a spectrophotometer (24).
Hoffer observed that schizophrenic patients abnormally metabolized adrenaline (epinephrine) into an oxidized byproduct that he called
adrenochrome. He learned that
adrenochrome was capable of having hallucinatory effects much like mescaline and LSD.