Monoamine oxidase specificity

Future Outlook for Antidepressants. Third-generation antidepressants are expected to combine superior efficacy and improved safety, but are unlikely to reduce the onset of therapeutic action in depressed patients (179). Many dmgs in clinical development as antidepressive agents focus on estabhshed properties such as inhibition of serotonin, dopamine, and/or noradrenaline reuptake, agonistic or antagonistic action at various serotonin receptor subtypes, presynaptic tt2-adrenoceptor antagonism, or specific monoamine—oxidase type A inhibition. Examples include buspirone (3) (only... 

Monoamine Oxidases and their Inhibitors. Table 1 Substrate specificity of the two forms of rat liver and brain monoamine oxidase... 

Recently Turner and coworkers have sought to extend the deracemization method beyond a-amino acids to encompass chiral amines. Chiral amines are increasingly important building blocks for pharmaceutical compounds that are either in clinical development or currently licensed for use as drugs (Figure 5.7). At the outset of this work, it was known that type II monoamine oxidases were able to catalyze the oxidation of simple amines to imines in an analogous fashion to amino acid oxidases. However, monoamine oxidases generally possess narrow substrate specificity and moreover have been only documented to catalyze the oxidation of simple, nonchiral... 

Lenders, JWM, Eisenhofer, G, Abeling, NGGM et al. (1996) Specific genetic deficiencies of the A and B isoenzimes of monoamine oxidase are characterized by distinct neurochemical and clinical phenotypes. J. Clin. Invest. 97 1010-1019. 

The product of the hydroxylation of tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptophan, is rapidly decarboxylated to 5-HT by a specific decarboxylase enzyme. This is generally thought to be a soluble enzyme which suggests that 5-HT is synthesised in the cytoplasm, before it is taken up into the storage vesicles. If this is the case, then considerable losses might be incurred from its metabolism by monoamine oxidase before it reaches the storage vesicles. Indeed, this could explain why 5-HT turnover seems to greatly exceed its rate of release. 

MAOI, monoamine oxidase inhibitor NaSSA, noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant NDRI, norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor SARI, serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitor SNRI, serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor TCA, tricyclic antidepressant. 

Buckholtz, N. S., and Boggan, W. O. (1977) Monoamine oxidase inhibition in brain and liver produced by d-carbolines Structure-activity relationships and substrate specificity. Biochem. Pharmacol., 26 1991-1996. 

Urine catecholamines may also serve as biomarkers of disulfoton exposure. No human data are available to support this, but limited animal data provide some evidence of this. Disulfoton exposure caused a 173% and 313% increase in urinary noradrenaline and adrenaline levels in female rats, respectively, within 72 hours of exposure (Brzezinski 1969). The major metabolite of catecholamine metabolism, HMMA, was also detected in the urine from rats given acute doses of disulfoton (Wysocka-Paruszewska 1971). Because organophosphates other than disulfoton can cause an accumulation of acetylcholine at nerve synapses, these chemical compounds may also cause a release of catecholamines from the adrenals and the nervous system. In addition, increased blood and urine catecholamines can be associated with overstimulation of the adrenal medulla and/or the sympathetic neurons by excitement/stress or sympathomimetic drugs, and other chemical compounds such as reserpine, carbon tetrachloride, carbon disulfide, DDT, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO) inhibitors (Brzezinski 1969). For these reasons, a change in catecholamine levels is not a specific indicator of disulfoton exposure. 

BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor DAT, dopamine transporter DRD, dopamine receptor MAOA, monoamine oxidase A MB-catechol-O-methyltransferase QM-MSP, quantitative multiplex methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction RELN, reelin TH. These primers are suitable for QM-MSP. 

Listing of antidepressants grouped by principal mechanism of action in the synapse. Abbreviations MAOI—irreversible = irreversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor MAOI—reversible = reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor NDRl = norepinephrine/ dopamine reuptake inhibitor NRI = norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor NSRl = norepinephrine/serotonin reuptake inhibitor NSSA = norepinephrine/specific serotonin agonist SRI = serotonin reuptake inhibitor SRl/serotonin-2 blocker = serotonin reuptake inhibitor and serotonin-2 receptor antagonist. 

The process of oxidative deamination is the most important mechanism whereby all monoamines are inactivated (i.e. the catecholamines, 5-HT and the numerous trace amines such as phenylethylamine and tryptamine). Monoamine oxidase occurs in virtually all tissues, where it appears to be bound to the outer mitochondrial membrane. Whereas there are several specific and therapeutically useful monoamine oxidase inhibitors, inhibitors of catechol-O-methyltransferase have found little application. This is mainly due to the fact that at most only 10% of the monoamines released from the nerve terminal are catabolized by this enzyme. The main pathways involved in the catabolism of the catecholamines are shown in Figure 2.16. 

The development of specific drugs for the treatment of depression only occurred in the early 1950s with the accidental discovery of the monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). This period marked the beginning of the era of pharmacopsychiatry. 

Competitive inhibitors bind to specific groups in the enzyme active site to form an enzyme-inhibitor complex. The inhibitor and substrate compete for the same site, so that the substrate is prevented from binding. This is usually because the substrate and inhibitor share considerable stmctural similarity. Catalysis is diminished because a lower proportion of molecules have a bound substrate. Inhibition can be relieved by increasing the concentration of substrate. Some simple examples are shown below. Thus, sulfanilamide is an inhibitor of the enzyme that incorporates j9-aminobenzoic acid into folic acid, and has antibacterial properties by restricting folic acid biosynthesis in the bacterium (see Box 11.13). Some phenylethylamine derivatives, e.g. phenelzine, provide useful antidepressant drags by inhibiting the enzyme monoamine oxidase. The cA-isomer maleic acid is a powerful inhibitor of the enzyme that utilizes the trans-isomer fumaric acid in the Krebs cycle. 

First-generation antihistamines Flypersensitivity to specific or structurally related antihistamines newborns or premature infants nursing mothers monoamine oxidase (MAO) therapy pregnancy (hydroxyzine) angle-closure glaucoma, stenosing peptic ulcer, symptomatic prostatic hypertrophy, bladder neck obstruction, pyloroduodenal obstruction, elderly, debilitated patients (cyproheptadine). 

Many antidepressant drugs have pronounced effects on sleep. Several tricyclic compounds (amitriptyline and others) have sedative actions while others (imipramine and others) are less sedative or even stimulant. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) have central stimulant effects and may cause insomnia. Specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRls) and combined serotonin, noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) can also cause insomnia. 

Serious toxic reactions with delirium can arise when specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are taken with other drugs that increase central and peripheral serotonergic activity. Known as the serotonin syndrome , this reaction consists of excitation, restlessness, fluctuations in consciousness, with tremor, rigidity, myoclonus, sweating, flushing, pyrexia, cardiovascular changes, and rarely coma and death (Sternbach, 1991). The syndrome has occurred when SSRIs have been combined with irreversible monoamine oxidase... 

Serotonergic drugs - antidepressants maprotUine, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, drug combinations with specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors causing the serotonin syndrome - lithium, LSD, MDMA... 

Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) oxidizes 5-HT, norepinephrine as well as dopamine, and is expressed in a cell type-specific manner. Abnormalities in... 

Fig. 1. Influence of substituents in the aromatic ring on the selectivity of 3-(2-aminoethoxy)-1,2-benzisoxazole derivatives as monoamine oxidases (MAO) A or B inhibitors. Ratio of selectivity was calculated from IC50 values of MAO A and B determined by an in vitro assay of mouse brain mitochondria using 5-hydroxy tryptamine (5-HT) and 2-phenylethylamine (PEA) as specific substrates, respectively (see Ref. [9]). Smaller values indicate that inhibitors are MAO A selective [71].

C.H. Williams, Monoamine-oxidase. 1. Specificity of some substrates and inhibitors, Biochem. Pharmacol. 23 (1974) 615-628. 

Desai, and S. S. Hecht. Evidence for endogenous formation of tobacco—specific nitrosamines in rats treated with tobacco alkaloids and sodium nitrite. Carcinogenesis 1997 18(3) 587—592. NT257 Mendez-Alvarez, E., R. Soto-Otero, I. Sanchez-Sellero, and M. Lopez-Ri-vadulla Lamas. Inhibition of brain monoamine oxidase by adducts of 1, 2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline with components of cigarette smoke. Life Sci 1997 60(19) 1719-1727. 

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