Department of Drug Chemistry and Technologies, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 , Rome, Italy.
Mol Divers. 2014 Feb;18(1):219-43. doi: 10.1007/s11030-013-9490-6. Epub 2013 Nov 12.
Monoamine oxidases (MAOs) are mitochondrial bound enzymes, which catalyze the oxidative deamination of monoamine neurotransmitters. Inside the brain, MAOs are present in two isoforms: MAO-A and MAO-B. The activity of MAO-B is generally higher in patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Therefore, the search for potent and selective MAO-B inhibitors is still a challenge for medicinal chemists. Nature has always been a source of inspiration for the discovery of new lead compounds. Moreover, natural medicine is a major component in all traditional medicine systems. In this review, we present the latest discoveries in the search for selective MAO-B inhibitors from natural sources. For clarity, compounds have been classified on the basis of structural analogy or source: flavonoids, xanthones, tannins, proanthocyanidins, iridoid glucosides, curcumin, alkaloids, cannabinoids, and natural sources extracts. MAO inhibition values reported in the text are not always consistent due to the high variability of MAO sources (bovine, pig, rat brain or liver, and human) and to the heterogeneity of the experimental protocols used.
单胺氧化酶（MAO）是线粒体结合酶，可催化单胺神经递质的氧化脱氨。在大脑中，MAO 以两种同工酶形式存在：MAO-A 和 MAO-B。MAO-B 的活性在阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病等神经退行性疾病患者中通常较高。因此，寻找强效和选择性 MAO-B 抑制剂仍然是药物化学家的一项挑战。大自然一直是发现新先导化合物的灵感来源。此外，天然药物是所有传统医学体系的主要组成部分。在这篇综述中，我们介绍了从天然来源寻找选择性 MAO-B 抑制剂的最新发现。为了清晰起见，根据结构类似物或来源对化合物进行了分类：类黄酮、蒽酮、单宁、原花青素、裂环环烯醚萜苷、姜黄素、生物碱、大麻素和天然来源提取物。由于 MAO 来源（牛、猪、鼠脑或肝，以及人）的高度变异性和所用实验方案的异质性，文本中报告的 MAO 抑制值并不总是一致。
