[Effect of stress and the antioxidant ionol on the biosynthesis of catecholamines and the content of dopamine in the heart and adrenal glands].

The effects of a synthetic antioxidant ionol (dibunol) on the biosynthesis and content of catecholamines in the heart and adrenal glands were studied. It was shown that in stress a mobilization of catecholamine reserve is combined with a considerable increase in dopamine concentration. In conditions of physiological rest, ionol did not affect the studied indices of adrenal catecholamine biosynthesis, while in the heart it enhanced the dopamine synthesis and content. With ionol administration, stress did not suppress but, on the contrary, increased the neuronal uptake and noradrenaline biosynthesis, catecholamine concentration remaining practically unchanged. Simultaneously, a manyfold increase in the biosynthesis along with a considerable increase in the concentration of dopamine developed in both organs. The data obtained suggest that ionol realizes its stress-defensive effect to a great extent due to the activation of catecholamine biosynthesis and to a concomitant increase in dopamine accumulation.