[Formation of the superoxide anion radical during the oxidation of biogenic amines catalyzed by mitochondrial monoamine oxidase].

The studies on the activity of monoamine oxidase from human placenta, using 2-phenylethylamine as a substrate, corroborate the hypothesis on the possible superoxide radical generation upon FAD oxidation at the second (aerobic) stage of monoamine oxidase reaction. It has been shown that hydrogen peroxide, but not other activated O2 forms, was the end product of this reaction. No superoxide radical generation took place in such systems. And therefore, the induction of lipid peroxidation in the presence of catalase was impossible in mitochondrial membranes containing monoamine oxidase and amines oxidized by it.