catecholamine

catechol +‎ -amine

• (UK) IPA^(key): /katəˈkəʊləmiːn/, /katəˈkɒləmiːn/

catecholamine (plural catecholamines)

1. (biochemistry) Any of a class of aromatic amines derived from pyrocatechol that are hormones produced by the adrenal gland.
   • 1988, Lubert Stryer, Biochemistry, 3rd edition, p. 1025:

     Epinephrine and dopamine are two other catecholamine transmitters.

   • 2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin 2012, p. 746:

     The catecholamines are used in several motivational and emotional systems of the brain, and their concentration is regulated by proteins that break them down or recycle them.

• benzenediol

See also Thesaurus:catecholamine

• catecholaminergic
• catecholaminic