Kt. Finnegan et al., AGE-DEPENDENT EFFECTS OF THE 2'-METHYL ANALOG OF 1-METHYL-4-PHENYL-1,2,3,6-TETRAHYDROPYRIDINE - PREVENTION BY INHIBITORS OF MONOAMINE-OXIDASE-B, The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, 273(2), 1995, pp. 716-720
Older mice are much more susceptible to the dopamine-depleting actions
of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), an effect tha
t has been correlated with age-related increases in the central nervou
s system activity of the enzyme responsible for its bioactivation, mon
oamine oxidase type B (MAO B). To characterize the involvement of MAO
B further in the age-related effects of MPTP, a neurotoxic analog of M
PTP, hyl-4-(2'-methylphenyl)-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (2'CH3-MPTP),
was used. This drug produced much larger depletions of striatal dopami
ne in 10-month-old mice than in 2-month-old animals, which indicated t
hat the effects of 2'CH3-MPTP, like those of MPTP, are age related. Di
fferent from MPTP, however, neither the inhibition of MAO B (selegilin
e) nor MAO A (clorgiline) blocked the dopamine-depleting effects of 2'
CH3-MPTP; rather, the simultaneous inhibition of both forms of the enz
yme was required. These data indicate that both MAO A and B participat
e in the bioactivation of 2'CH3-MPTP. Based on these findings, the abi
lity of selective inhibitors of MAO A and B to block the age-related e
ffects of 2'CH3-MPTP was investigated. 2'CH3-MPTP produced equivalent
depletions of striatal dopamine in 2- and 10-month-mice after both gro
ups were pretreated with selective inhibitors of MAO B; that is, MAO B
inhibition abolished the age-dependent effects of the neurotoxin. By
contrast, older mice continued to display much larger 2'CH3-MPTP-induc
ed depletions of striatal dopamine than did younger rodents after the
inhibition of MAO A. The findings suggest that the age-dependent dopam
ine-depleting effects of 2'CH3-MPTP occur as a consequence of age-rela
ted increases in central nervous system MAO B activity.