Spermine Oxidase and Benzylamine Oxidase. Distribution, Development and Substrate Specificity

A survey has been made of the distribution of the two types of amine oxidase that occur in mammalian blood plasma. Spermine oxidase has been found in all ruminants (Ruminantia and Tylopoda) examined, and also in the hippopotamus and two members of the order Hyracoidea. Benzylamine oxidase has a much wider distribution; it occurs not only in Ungulates and Carnivores, but has also been found in some Primates. Benzylamine oxidase was not found in the blood plasma of newborn piglets; in newborn foals the enzymic activity was low. Spermine oxidase activity, absent or very low in the newborn kid, developed at similar rates in kids kept with the mother, bedded on straw, and in those removed from the mother and bedded on wood shavings. The plasma amine oxidases differ from the intracellular amine oxidase in that they are unable to oxidize N-methylated secondary amines.