The Present Status of Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors

Abstract

The present status of monoamine oxidase inhibitors in the treatment of depression is reviewed. With adequate doses they are effective antidepressants, but dosages have in the past been too low. Provided proper dietary precautions are taken, the incidence of fatality from dietary interactions is very small and should not deter doctors from using these drugs, especially in those depressed patients who do not respond to tricyclic-type antidepressants. The present status of combining monoamine oxidase inhibitors with tricyclics is discussed, as are the newer specific inhibitors particularly clorgyline and deprenyl.

Kinetics of Inhibition of Monoamine Oxidase Using Cymbopogon martinii (Roxb.) Wats.: A Potential Antidepressant Herbal Ingredient with Antioxidant Activity

“…A vast body of literature and therapeutic interest in MAO inhibitors has also increased in recent years because of their implications and possible role in the amelioration of neurological disorders [7]. MAO Inhibitors are quite effective in the pharmacotherapy of various mood and anxiety disorders, such as atypical depression, panic disorder, and social phobia [8,9].…”

New Pharmacological Developments in Antidepressants

“…Keller et al (1982) among others, have demonstrated the in adequate dosage of antidepressants when used by general physicians and Bridges (1983) has likewise criticised British psy chiatrists for not using much larger doses in really severe and resistant cases of de pression referred to him for consideration of psychosurgery. The most striking exam ple, however, is that it has taken us twenty years to realise that we have been using MAOIs in inadequate dosage, and when the dose is raised these drugs have been shown to be very effective antidepressants, particularly in those atypical cases of de pression which are less likely to respond to the tricyclic type of drug (Pare, 1985).…”

“…The hazards of such combinations and the drugs to use and avoid have been admirably investigated pharmacologically by Marley and Wozniak (1983, 1984aand b, 1985. On pharma cological grounds they suggest that sero tonin re-uptake inhibitors such as clomi pramine and fluoxetine should never be combined with an MAOI and certainly clinicians would also condemn using clo mipramine in such combination (Beau mont, 1973;Pare, 1985).…”

The Effects of Moclobemide on Psychomotor Performance and Cognitive Function in the Elderly

“…There has therefore been an interest in synthesizing a MAOI which provides an effective pharmaceutical therapy but which does not possess the negative properties of the earlier for mulae. The search has concentrated on a range of revers ible MAOI-A inhibitors with the aim of producing a drug which has the antidepressant properties of the MAO-A inhibitor clorgyline, but with a reduced tendency to cause the tyramine pressor effect [27], One such potentially valuable substance is moclobemide.…”