The therapeutic potential of monoamine oxidase inhibitors.
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors were among the first antidepressants to be discovered and have long been used as such. It now seems that many of these agents might have therapeutic value in several common neurodegenerative conditions, independently of their inhibition of monoamine oxidase activity. However, many claims and some counter-claims have been made about the physiological importance of these enzymes and the potential of their inhibitors. We evaluate these arguments in the light of what we know, and still have to learn, of the structure, function and genetics of the monoamine oxidases and the disparate actions of their inhibitors.
Technion-Rappaport Family Faculty of Medicine, Eve Topf and US National Parkinson Foundation Centers of Excellence for Neurodegenerative Diseases. youdim@tx.technion.ac.il
Moussa B H
MB
Youdim
Dale
D
Edmondson
Keith F
KF
Tipton
D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase