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Source, metabolism and function of dopamine in digestive tract

LIU Chen-Zhe¹, ZHU Jin-Xia^2,*

¹Department of Exercise Physiology, Beijing Sport University, Beijing 100084, China；²Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China

Abstract

Dopamine (DA), as a catecholamine neurotransmitter widely distributed in the central nervous system and the peripheral tissues, has attracted a lot of attention. Especially in recent years, DA has been found to regulate the function of the immune system, and the involvement of DA in the intestinal mucosal inflammation-related diseases has become a hot research topic. The digestive tract is an important source of peripheral DA, and DA is not only produced in the enteric nervous system and gastrointestinal epithelium, but also produced by intestinal microorganisms. In addition to the synthetases of DA, the DA contents in body tissues are also affected by the two kinds of metabolic enzymes, monoamine oxidase (MAO) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). This article reviewed the sources, metabolism, and functions of DA in digestive tract, especially focusing on the distribution and function of MAO and COMT, the enzymes degrading DA.

Key words: gastrointestinal tract; dopamine; monoamine oxidase; catechol-O-methyltransferase

Received: 2019-10-16　　Accepted: 2020-01-29

Corresponding author: 朱进霞　　E-mail: zhu_jx@ccmu.edu.cn

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2020.0036

Citing This Article：

LIU Chen-Zhe, ZHU Jin-Xia. Source, metabolism and function of dopamine in digestive tract. Acta Physiol Sin 2020; 72 (3): 336-346 (in Chinese with English abstract).