Examples

Some prominent examples of biogenic amines include:

• Histamine
  Histamine
  Histamine is an organic nitrogen compound involved in local immune responses as well as regulating physiological function in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter. Histamine triggers the inflammatory response. As part of an immune response to foreign pathogens, histamine is produced by...
  
   - a substance derived from the amino acid
  Amino acid
  Amino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and a side-chain that varies between different amino acids. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen...
  
   histidine
  Histidine
  Histidine Histidine, an essential amino acid, has a positively charged imidazole functional group. It is one of the 22 proteinogenic amino acids. Its codons are CAU and CAC. Histidine was first isolated by German physician Albrecht Kossel in 1896. Histidine is an essential amino acid in humans...
  
   that acts as a neurotransmitter
  Neurotransmitter
  Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemicals that transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse. Neurotransmitters are packaged into synaptic vesicles clustered beneath the membrane on the presynaptic side of a synapse, and are released into the synaptic cleft, where they bind to...
  
   mediating arousal and attention, as well as a pro-inflammatory
  Inflammation
  Inflammation is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process...
  
   signal released from mast cell
  Mast cell
  A mast cell is a resident cell of several types of tissues and contains many granules rich in histamine and heparin...
  
  s in response to allergic
  Allergy
  An Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...
  
   reactions or tissue damage. Histamine is also an important stimulant of HCl secretion by the stomach through histamine H2 receptors.
• Tyramine
  Tyramine
  Tyramine is a naturally occurring monoamine compound and trace amine derived from the amino acid tyrosine. Tyramine acts as a catecholamine releasing agent...
  
   - a substance that is found in many common foods, and is associated with increased blood pressure and headaches.
• Serotonin
  Serotonin
  Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets, and in the central nervous system of animals including humans...
  
   - a central nervous system
  Central nervous system
  The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...
  
   neurotransmitter derived from the amino acid
  Amino acid
  Amino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and a side-chain that varies between different amino acids. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen...
  
   tryptophan
  Tryptophan
  Tryptophan is one of the 20 standard amino acids, as well as an essential amino acid in the human diet. It is encoded in the standard genetic code as the codon UGG...
  
   involved in regulating mood, sleep, appetite, and sexuality.
• The three catecholamine
  Catecholamine
  Catecholamines are molecules that have a catechol nucleus consisting of benzene with two hydroxyl side groups and a side-chain amine. They include dopamine, as well as the "fight-or-flight" hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline released by the adrenal medulla of the adrenal glands in response to...
  
   neurotransmitters:
  • Norepinephrine
    Norepinephrine
    Norepinephrine is the US name for noradrenaline , a catecholamine with multiple roles including as a hormone and a neurotransmitter...
    
     (noradrenaline) - a neurotransmitter involved in sleep and wakefulness, attention, and feeding behavior, as well as a stress hormone
    Stress hormone
    Stress hormones such as cortisol, GH and norepinephrine are released at periods of high stress. The hormone regulating system is known as the endocrine system...
    
     released by the adrenal glands that regulates the sympathetic nervous system
    Sympathetic nervous system
    The sympathetic nervous system is one of the three parts of the autonomic nervous system, along with the enteric and parasympathetic systems. Its general action is to mobilize the body's nervous system fight-or-flight response...
    
    .
  • Epinephrine
    Epinephrine
    Epinephrine is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, dilates air passages and participates in the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system. In chemical terms, adrenaline is one of a group of monoamines called the catecholamines...
    
     (adrenaline) - an adrenal stress hormone, as well as a neurotransmitter present at lower levels in the brain.
  • Dopamine
    Dopamine
    Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this substituted phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five known types of dopamine receptors—D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5—and their...
    
     - a neurotransmitter involved in motivation, reward, addiction, behavioral reinforcement, and coordination of bodily movement.
• Tryptamine
  Tryptamine
  Tryptamine is a monoamine alkaloid found in plants, fungi, and animals. It is based around the indole ring structure, and is chemically related to the amino acid tryptophan, from which its name is derived...
  
   - a monoanime alkaloid
  Alkaloid
  Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...
  
   found in trace amounts in the brain
  Brain
  The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
  
  s of mammal
  Mammal
  Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
  
  s, and believed to play a role as a neuromodulator or neurotransmitter
  Neurotransmitter
  Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemicals that transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse. Neurotransmitters are packaged into synaptic vesicles clustered beneath the membrane on the presynaptic side of a synapse, and are released into the synaptic cleft, where they bind to...
  
  .

Physiological importance

There is a distinction between endogenous

Endogenous

Endogenous substances are those that originate from within an organism, tissue, or cell. Endogenous retroviruses are caused by ancient infections of germ cells in humans, mammals and other vertebrates...

 and exogenous

Exogenous

Exogenous refers to an action or object coming from outside a system. It is the opposite of endogenous, something generated from within the system....

 biogenic amines. Endogenous amines are produced in many different tissues (for example: adrenaline in adrenal medulla

Adrenal medulla

The adrenal medulla is part of the adrenal gland. It is located at the center of the gland, being surrounded by the adrenal cortex. It is the innermost part of the adrenal gland, consisting of cells that secrete epinephrine , norepinephrine , and a small amount of dopamine in response to...

 or histamine in mast cells and liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...

). The amines are transmitted locally or via the blood system. The exogenous amines are directly absorbed from food in the intestine

Intestine

In human anatomy, the intestine is the segment of the alimentary canal extending from the pyloric sphincter of the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine...

. Alcohol can increase the absorption rate. The monoamineoxidase (MAO) breaks down biogenic amines and prevents excessive resorption

Resorption

Resorption is a process by which a structure is remodeled.Types include:* Bone resorption* Root resorption...

. MAO inhibitors (MAOI) are also used as medications for the treatment of depression to prevent MAO from breaking down amines important for positive mood.

External links

• The Biogenic Amines - Neuroscience 2nd edition, Dale Purves
  Dale Purves
  Dale Purves is Director of the Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders program at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School and Executive Director of the at A*STAR, both located in Singapore. Until 2009 he was Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and George Barth Geller Professor for Research...
  
  et al.