Assay Method for Tetramine in Carnivorous Gastropods

Abstract

Conditions for the assay of tetramine (TM) in the salivary gland of gastropods were studied A dose-death time curve of TM in mice (ddY, males, 18-20g) was prepared using authentic TM chloride. This curve made it possible to examine the extraction conditions of TM from the gas-tropod salivary gland. Based on the results obtained, along with the dose-death time curve of TM chloride, the following assay procedure for tetramine was proposed.
Gastropod salivary gland is homogenized with five volumes of methanol and heated under reflux for 30 min. The homogenate is centrifuged, and the supernatant (or its dilutions) is injected into a group of five mice intraperitoneally. The median value of the death times is converted into mouse units or the TM chloride content in the salivary gland.