PHYSIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF THE AMINES 

 DERIVED FROM AMINO-ACIDS. 



The chief interest attached to the amines described in this chapter 

 is due to their physiological action and to the possibility of their forma- 

 tion in the organism, wherever proteins or amino-acids are exposed to 

 bacterial action as, for instance, in the intestine. By far the most 

 active amines are those containing a ring, namely those derived from 

 phenyl-alanine, tyrosine, tryptophane, and histidine. Their formation 

 does not take place in acid solution, and would, therefore, appear to 

 be prevented or lessened by the sour-milk treatment recommended by 

 Metchnikoff. Berthelot and Bertrand [1913, I] find, however, that 

 their Bacillus aminophilus even produces /3-iminazolylethylamine in 

 O'3 per cent, lactic acid, unless much glucose is present, when the sugar 

 alone is attacked. The same investigators [1913, 2] find that rats, fed 

 on a milk diet, are not affected by either Proteus vulgaris or B. amino- 

 philus intestinalis when given separately, but that if the two organisms 

 are given simultaneously, the rats may develop a fatal diarrhoea in 

 from 4-8 days. Normally these putrefactive amines appear to be de- 

 stroyed in the liver; Ewins and Laidlaw [1910, 3i ^^J have shown 

 that p-hydroxy-phenyl-ethylamine and indole-ethylamine are trans- 

 formed by perfusion through a surviving liver into p-hydroxy-phenyl- 

 acetic acid and indole-acetic -acid respectively. Oehme [1913] states 

 that O'6 mg. may kill a rabbit when given intravenously, but that the 

 lethal dose is much higher when injected into the portal circulation. 

 Rabbits will even stand 0-5 grm. by the mouth. Nevertheless the 

 amines may perhaps play a part in certain diseases ; thus p-hydroxy- 

 phenyl-ethylamine may be connected with a persistent high blood 

 pressure, and Mellanby [191 1] has attempted to connect /3-iminazolyl- 

 ethyl-amine with cyclic vomiting. Pharmacologically these bases are 

 important on account of their presence in ergot. 



Ehrlich and Pistschimuka [1912] have shown that they are 

 transformed by yeast into the corresponding alcohols, and according 

 to Czapek [1903] the amines with 3-7 carbon atoms are a good 

 source of nitrogen for Aspergillus. 



The action of many synthetic amines has been examined ; it seems 



25 



