Cadaverine

Cadaverine is a foul-smelling molecule produced by protein hydrolysis during putrefaction of animal tissue. Cadaverine is a toxic diamine with the formula NH2(CH2)5NH2, which is similar to putrescine. Cadaverine is also known by the names 1,5-pentanediamine and pentamethylenediamine.

Cadaverine

SIMPLY:

A syrupy colorless poisonous ptomaine C5H14N2 formed by decarboxylation of lysine especially in putrefaction of flesh

Production

Cadaverine is the decarboxylation product of the amino acid lysine.

However, this diamine is not purely associated with putrefaction. It is also produced in small quantities by living beings. It is partially responsible for the distinctive smell of urine and semen.

Examination of the serosal fluid following in vitro luminal perfusion of rat intestinal segments with 1 mg/ml histamine for 2 hr showed that histamine constituted only 22.1% of the total serosal radioactivity. The remainder of the radioactivity was comprised of histamine metabolites. When equimolar amounts of either aminoguanidine and cadaverine were added to the luminal perfusate, the percentage of the serosal radioactivity as histamine increased to 67.0 and 60.4%, respectively. However, when equal amounts of histamine and anserine were added to the luminal perfusate, only 30.6% of the translocated within 2 hr was histamine. In all cases, the gross translocation rate based on the percentage of total serosal radioactivity for total radioisotope was unchanged by the addition of these substances to the luminal perfusate. The results indicate that the potentiation of histamine toxicity by putrefactive amines, such as cadaverine, results from the inhibition of histamine metabolism which leads to increased uptake of unmetabolized histamine. The results do not support the hypothesis that potentiation occurs via an overall increase in the absorption of histamine and its metabolites due to some disruption in the barrier function of the intestine.