Adrenaline

Epinephrine (INN) (IPA: [ˌɛpɪˈnɛfrən]) or adrenaline (European Pharmacopoeia and BAN) (IPA: [əˈdrɛnələn]), sometimes spelled "epinephrin" or "adrenalin" respectively, is a hormone when being carried in the blood and a neurotransmitter when it is being released across a neuronal synapse. It is a catecholamine, a sympathomimetic monoamine derived from the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine. The Latin roots ad-+renes and the Greek roots epi-+nephros both literally mean "on/to the kidney" (referring to the adrenal gland, which sits atop the kidneys and secretes epinephrine). Epinephrine is sometimes shortened to epi or to EP in medical jargon.
Contents[hide]
1 History
2 Actions in the body
3 Biosynthesis
4 Regulation
5 Pharmacology
6 Terminology
7 Isomers
8 Autoinjectors
9 See also
10 References
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[edit] History
In May 1886, William Bates reported the discovery of a substance produced by the adrenal gland in the New York Medical Journal. Epinephrine was isolated and identified in 1895 by Napoleon Cybulski, a Polish physiologist. The discovery was repeated in 1897 by John Jacob Abel.[1]
Jokichi Takamine, a Japanese chemist, independently discovered the same hormone in 1900.[2][3]
It was first artificially synthesized in 1904 by Friedrich Stolz.

[edit] Actions in the body
Epinephrine is a "fight or flight" hormone which is released from the adrenal glands when danger threatens or in an emergency. When secreted into the bloodstream, it rapidly prepares the body for action in emergency situations. The hormone boosts the supply of oxygen and glucose to the brain and muscles, while suppressing other non-emergency bodily processes (digestion in particular).
Epinephrine plays a central role in the short-term stress reaction—the physiological response to threatening, exciting, or environmental stressor conditions such as high noise levels or bright light (see Fight-or-flight response). It is secreted by the adrenal medulla. When released into the bloodstream, epinephrine binds to multiple receptors and has numerous effects throughout the body. It increases heart rate and stroke volume, dilates the pupils, and constricts arterioles in the skin and gut while dilating arterioles in leg muscles. It elevates the blood sugar level by increasing catalysis of glycogen to glucose in the liver, and at the same time begins the breakdown of lipids in fat cells. Like some other stress hormones, epinephrine has a suppressive effect on the immune system.[4]
Although epinephrine does not have any psychoactive effects, stress or arousal also releases norepinephrine in the brain. Norepinephrine has similar actions in the body, but is also psychoactive


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenaline