In the present report we describe the astrocytic localization and content of monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) by means of a 3H-L-deprenyl emulsion autoradiography in primary cultures of rat astrocytes, in cryosectioned astrocytoma surgical specimen, and in cryosections of human spinal cords from patients dying in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and controls. The occurrence of MAO-B enzyme protein depends on the degree of cellular differentiation as demonstrated by studies on astrocytes in primary cultures analyzed at two different stages of maturation. Highly differentiated cells exhibited high relative enzyme concentration whereas glioblasts lacked or showed very low contents of MAO-B enzyme. This was further substantiated by studies performed on human astrocytoma tissue using 3H-L-deprenyl emulsion autoradiography in combination with immunohistochemical detection of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Regional increases of MAO-B concentration were found in ALS lumbar sections with quantitative 3H-L-deprenyl autoradiography. On the basis of results obtained from double staining for GFAP and MAO-B, the increase in MAO-B seemed to be due to an increased number of astrocytes as well as an increased content of MAO-B in reactive species of astrocytes. A cell culture model has been used that produces cells with morphology and GFAP-content similar to reactive cells. These astrocytes exhibited high relative content of the MAO-B enzyme protein. In the light of the presented data, taking into account the finding that a subpopulation of reactive cells contained low levels of MAO-B, a heterogeneity among reactive astrocytes was observed.

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Hemitransection of the left side of rat brain results in a selective increase (40%) in the activity of MAO-B in the left side striatum, as compared to the right, unoperated side. This increase is shown to be the result of an increase in the activity of extraneuronal MAO-B using a "low substrate concentration method" with dopamine as substrate. This result is compatible with the hypothesis, that in certain degenerative processes such as aging, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and axotomy there is a stimulated growth of extraneuronal cells, which are relatively rich in MAO-B activity.

The activities of monoamine oxidase-A and -B were determined in four brain regions (limbic system, occipito-temporal cortex, hemispheres and striatum) of the rat 0, 3, 6, 9 and 14 days after hemitransection of the left side. No larger or consistent change in the activity of monoamine oxidase-A towards 5-hydroxytryptamine was found for the left (hemitransected) side with respect to the right side for any of the rats. The monoamine oxidase-B activity towards beta-phenethylamine increased in the left side striatum to a significant level by 3 days, and in the hemispheres and occipito-temporal cortex on the left side, with respect to the right side by 9 days, but no significant changes were found for the limbic system. A small decrease in the activity of succinate dehydrogenase was found in the striatum on the left side by 9 days after hemitransection, but no change in the activity of acid phosphatase was found in this brain region.