Abstract
The presence of octopamine in the secretion of the salivary gland of Octopus vulgaris was first demonstrated by Erspamer (1). Kakimoto and Armstrong (2) showed the occurrence of this amine in various tissues of rabbits treated with monoamine oxidase inhibitors. However, paper chromatographic studies of the tissue level of octopamine did not give precise information about small changes of the amine level. Based upon the reaction that octopamine is converted quantitatively to p-hydroxybenzaldehyde by periodate oxidation in ammonia alkaline medium (3), the amount of tissue and blood octopamine could be evaluated by measuring the ultraviolet absorption of the oxidation product. In the present experiments the distribution of exogenously administered octopamine and the accumulation of endogenous octopamine after a monoamine oxidase inhibitor were studied in the blood, brain stem, heart, submaxillary glands, spleen and stomach of the rat.
