Adrenaline of epinephrine can be seen in autonomic neuropathy or following adrenalectomy. Failure of the adrenal cortex, as with Addisons disease, can suppress epinephrine secretion as the activity of the synthesing enzyme, phenylethanolamine-"N"-methyltransferase, depends on the high concentration of cortisol that drains from the cortex to the medulla. In 1901, Jokichi Takamine patented a purified extract from the adrenal glands, and called it "adrenalin" (from the Latin for "on top of the kidneys" ("ad" and "renal"), which was trademarked by Parke, Davis & Co in the US. The British Approved Name and European Pharmacopoeia term for this drug is hence "adrenaline".
Autonomic nervous system provides voluntary control. The autonomic nervous system is divided into the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic division emerges from the spinal cord in the thoracic and lumbar areas, terminating around L2-3. The parasympathetic division has craniosacral “outflow”, meaning that the neurons begin at the cranial nerves (specifically the oculomotor nerve, facial nerve, glossopharyngeal nerve and vagus nerve) and sacral (S2-S4) spinal cord. The autonomic nervous system is unique in that it requires a sequential two-neuron efferent pathway; the preganglionic neuron must first synapse onto a postganglionic neuron before innervating the target organ. The preganglionic, or first,