Abstract
After pretreatment with the selective monoamine oxidase B inhibitor, (-)-deprenyl, in doses sufficient for complete inhibition of the platelet enzyme, 4 normal and 6 parkinsonian volunteers (2 receiving levodopa and 2 levodopa plus carbidopa) suffered no adverse pressor reaction (‘cheese effect’) after challenge with oral tyramine in amounts considerably greater than those likely to be encountered in a normal diet. Nor did the levodopa-deprenyl combination itself result in a pressor response. Normal human intestinal mucosa was shown predominantly to contain the deprenyl-insensitive A form of the enzyme, which presumably degraded administered tyramine in the deprenyl-treated volunteers; even those receiving the drug for prolonged periods manifested no ‘cheese effect’, suggesting that the A form remained uninhibited. Intestinal monoamine oxidase A was able to oxidise dopamine, whereas in human platelet or striatum the amine is a monoamine oxidase B substrate. Like tyramine, oral phenylethylamine challenge with amounts greater than those known to be present in a normal diet similarly gave rise to no adverse reaction in (-)-deprenyl-treated subjects; the reasons for this remain to be determined.
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Elsworth, J.D., Glover, V., Reynolds, G.P. et al. Deprenyl administration in man: A selective monoamine oxidase B inhibitor without the ‘cheese effect’. Psychopharmacology 57, 33–38 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00426954
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00426954