Tyrosine metabolism disorders

[Dave Paprocki]

Tyrosine is an amino acid that is a precursor of several neurotransmitters (eg, dopamine , norepinephrine , epinephrine ), hormones (eg, thyroxine), and melanin; deficiencies of enzymes involved in its metabolism lead to a variety of syndromes.
There are numerous disorders of phenylalanine and tyrosine metabolism (see the table). See also Approach to the Patient With a Suspected Inherited Disorder of Metabolism and testing for suspected inherited disorders of metabolism.