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3-O-Methyldopa, a New Precursor of Dopamine

Nature volume 230, pages 533–534 (1971)Cite this article

Abstract

3-METHOXY-4-hydroxyphenylalanine (3-O-methyldopa) is a major metabolite of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) in animals and man1–4 and when labelled it easily penetrates from the blood into other tissues, for example the brain and heart, where it has a biological half life of 12–13 h, which is considerably longer than that of L-dopa, which is about 30 min. The bulk of the urinary radioactivity excreted within 24 h consists of homovanillic acid (3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl-acetic acid) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid5.

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References

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Author notes

  1. I. KURUMA: On leave from Nippon Roche Research Centre, Ofuna, Japan.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. F. Hoffmann–La Roche & Co., Basle

    G. BARTHOLINI, I. KURUMA & A. PLETSCHER

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  1. G. BARTHOLINI
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  2. I. KURUMA
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  3. A. PLETSCHER
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BARTHOLINI, G., KURUMA, I. & PLETSCHER, A. 3-O-Methyldopa, a New Precursor of Dopamine. Nature 230, 533–534 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/230533a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/230533a0

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