title: Dopamine in paragangliomas of the glomus jugulare.
abstract: Glomus jugulare tumors have the ability to synthesize, store, and secrete biogenic amines. Although the majority of these tumors remain endocrinologically silent, on rare occasions they present either as a pheochromocytoma or with a carcinoid syndrome. We report a 20-year-old male with two intracranial tumors: an intrasellar neoplasm and a glomus jugulare tumor. Catecholamine catabolites in the urine were not increased, and blood pressure was always normal. The pituitary tumor was an adenoma, immunostaining positive for prolactin. The second patient, a 29-year-old hypertensive male, with a glomus jugulare tumor, had increased vanillylmandelic-acid excretion. In both cases, the paraganglioma tumor cells contained numerous dense-core vesicles (125 to 380 nm in diameter) in electron microscopy, and showed intense fluorescence by the sucrose-potassium phosphate-glyoxylic acid method. Using high-performance liquid chromatography and microspectrofluorometry we were able to establish the presence of large amounts of dopamine in the cytoplasm of the tumor cells.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neuropathology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46223.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Azzarelli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Felten
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Purvin
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D004298:Dopamine / Q000032:analysis*; D005925:Glomus Jugulare Tumor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary; D010236:Paraganglioma, Extra-Adrenal / Q000032:analysis*; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine