Metanephrines in plasma

The concentrations of metanephrines (metanephrine and normetanephrine) in plasma are measured on suspicions of catecholamine-producing tumors, such as pheochromocytoma (tumor in the medulla of the adrenal glands) and paraganglioma.

Metanephrine (plasma)<0,71 nmol/L
Normetanephrine (plasma)<1,09 nmol/L

Metanephrine and normetanephrine are the metabolites of the catecholamines adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine), respectively. Metanephrines have a longer half-life and have less biological variation in the plasma than adrenaline and noradrenaline, and are therefore more exact when examining concentrations of metanephrines than concentrations of adrenaline and noradrenaline in the plasma.

Read more about metanephrine in The handbook on medical biochemistry
Read more about metanephrine in The handbook on medical biochemistry