Iron- and riboflavin-dependent metabolism of a monamine in the rat in vivo.

n-Pentylamine enters into intermediary metabolism by the action of monoamine oxidase. [1-(14)C] Pentylamine injected into rats is rapidly converted to (14)CO(2). The rate of catabolism decreases progressively in the course of nutritional iron deficiency, reaching about 60 percent of control values in 3 weeks. Feeding with iron yields control levels within 6 days. The catabolism of amyl alcohol, which shares a common pathway with n-pentylamine by way of valeric aldehyde, is not significantly affected by the deficiency. The results demonstrate that the maintenance of normal monoamine oxidase activity in vivo depends upon an adequate supply of dietary iron.