Abstract
The metabolic fate of octopamine has been investigated in the rat and rabbit, using octopamine-2-3H. Urinary metabolites after oral administration were separated and identified by direct comparison with the authentic samples. The principal metabolite of the drug in both animals was the aliphatic dehydroxylated compound, p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid. Pretreatment with antibiotics (streptomycin and penicillin G potassium) did not cause to change the metabolic pattern of octopamine, suggesting that gut flora did not participate in the aliphatic dehydroxylation of octopamine.
