Monoamine oxidase B inhibition and the "cheese effect".

The absence of initiation of "cheese effect" (potentiation of sympathomimetic action of tyramine) by 1-deprenyl (selective monoamine oxidase, MAO-B inhibitor) was regarded to be an intrinsic property of this inhibitor. However, availability of other selective MAO-B inhibitors have clearly shown that this is not the case, since the "cheese effect" is associated with the selective inhibition of MAO-A, the enzyme responsible for intraneuronal oxidation of noradrenaline. Following inhibition of neuronal MAO-A, noradrenaline in the cytoplasmic intraneuronal pool can increase to high levels. Since tyramine releases noradrenaline into the cytoplasm and not by exocytosis, its action is potentiated by inhibition of neuronal MAO-A.