Posted by Larry Hoover on January 24, 2005, at 6:57:47
In reply to Re: MAO inhibition » Larry Hoover, posted by lars1 on January 14, 2005, at 13:23:54
> > One of the mechanisms by which methamphetamine does its damage is by inhibiting MAO. When combined with dopamine efflux induced by this drug, the inhibition of MAO leaves dopamine open to a multitude of auto-oxidative and enzyme catalyzed oxidative transformations.
>
> Would it be safe to assume that since conventional MAO inhibitors like Nardil and Parnate don't cause dopamine efflux, they don't cause any of the dopaminergic damage that amphetamines do?The backup to MAO is the enzyme COMT. True, there is not enhanced dopamine efflux on exposure to these agents, but they are inhibitors of a prime degradation pathway. I think the absence of neurotoxicity on complete inhibition of MAO is pretty solid evidence that there is abundant neuroprotection in the brain.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:439943
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050124/msgs/446657.html