Human erythrocyte catechol-o-methyltransferase: Correlation with lung and kidney activity

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity measured in homogenates of human lung or renal cortical tissue was approximately an order of magnitude greater than the enzyme activity in human erythrocytes. Lung and blood enzyme activities varied from individual to individual over a 5-7 fold range. There was a highly significant correlation between the COMT activity in erythrocytes and the enzyme activity in lung (r = 0.59, P < .001, N = 29) and kidney (r = 0.81, P < .005, N = 12) of the same subjects. These results suggest that the relative COMT activity in lung and kidney might be predicted by the measurement of the enzyme activity in blood and raise the possibility that individual variation in the metabolism of endogenous catecholamines and catechol drugs in man may result in part from variations in COMT activity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)625-630
Number of pages6
JournalLife Sciences
Volume22
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1978

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Human erythrocyte catechol-o-methyltransferase: Correlation with lung and kidney activity'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this