adrenochrome

English

adreno- +‎ -chrome

adrenochrome (countable and uncountable, plural adrenochromes)

(biochemistry) An oxidation product of adrenaline or epinephrine; its semicarbazone is used as a drug to reduce bleeding.
- 1937, David Ezra Green, “Adrenaline and Adrenochrome”, in The Biochemical Journal, volume 31, number 4, page 596:
  Investigation of the chemical constitution showed that it has the properties of N-methyl-2:3-dihydro-3-hydroxyindole-5:6-quinone. The shorter name adrenochrome is proposed for this substance. […] Adrenochrome is a very unstable substance: it is completely destroyed in 4 min. by 1% hydrochloric acid, and in 40 sec. by 1% ammonia.
(fiction) A fictional drug obtained from human adrenal glands.
- 1971, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, New York: Popular Library, →ISBN, page 132:
  “ […] He's one of these Satanism freaks. He offered me human blood—said it would make me higher than I'd ever been in my life,” he laughed. “I thought he was kidding, so I told him I'd just as soon have an ounce or so of pure adrenochrome—or maybe just a fresh adrenalin gland to chew on.”
- 2020 September 30, Helen Lewis, “The Joke’s on Us”, in The Atlantic‎:
  It also revives old slurs, but instead of openly accusing Jews of drinking the blood of gentile children, various euphemisms are employed: “Coastal elites,” “Hollywood,” and “George Soros” are now said to be harvesting a chemical called adrenochrome to prolong their life spans.

oxidation product of adrenaline or epinephrine