Effect of chronic denervation on the activities of monoamine oxidase and catechol-O-methyl transferase and on the contents of noradrenaline and adenosine triphosphate in the rabbit ear artery.

When assayed on homogenates of the rabbit ear artery up to 192 h after sympathetic denervation, the activity of monoamine oxidase (MAO) showed a small but significant decrease (maximum 9%). The activity of catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) appeared unchanged, although it is possible that the small and variable nature of this enzyme activity compared with that of MAO may have masked a comparable effect of denervation. The maximum decreases in noradrenaline (NA) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) contents were greater than 90% at 48 h, and 32% at 96 h after denervation. These results confirm the presence of neuronal as well as extra-neuronal MAO, and also the presence of extraneuronal comt in this artery. The decline in ATP contents after denervation suggest that part of the ATP is neuronal. However, the estimated ratio of NA to neuronal ATP is far in excess of that reported for isolated noradrenaline storage vesicles, suggesting that the major portion of the neuronal ATP was not present in these vesicles.