History of dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, synthesized in both central nervous system and the periphery. Dopaminergic system plays important roles in neuromodulation, such as motor control, motivation, reward, cognitive function, maternal, and reproductive behaviors.

This neurotransmitter is involved in the control of movement and Parkinson’s disease, the neurobiology and symptoms of schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Synthesized in 1910 by Barger and Ewins (1910) and by Mannich and Jacobsohn (1910), dopamine (3-hydroxytyramine, B-3,4-dihydroxyphenylethylamine) was classified - in the same year - by Barger and Dale (1910) as a weak sympathomimetic (vasopressor) drug. And it was Henry Dale who first suggested the shorter name dopamine in 1952.

In 1942, Holtz reported a novel observation that administration of low dose dopamine to the guinea pig resulted in lowering of arterial pressure.

Herman Blaschko at Oxford, who worked on monoamine oxidase (MAO) in the early years was one of the first to suggest that dopamine may be physiologically significant, a view substantiated by studies showing that dopamine could lower blood pressure and this effect was potentiated by inhibition of MAO.
History of dopamine