Inhibition of monoamine oxidase by substituted hydrazines.

1. The initial rate of inhibition of monoamine oxidase by phenethylhydrazine was shown to be similar, in pH-dependence and kinetic properties, to the oxidation of that compound by monoamine oxidase. 2. The time-course of irreversible inhibition of monoamine oxidase by phenethylhydrazine lags behind that of reversible inhibition. 3. Hydralzine was shown to be a reversible competitive inhibitor of monoamine oxidase, but phenylhydrazine is an irreversible inhibitor. Inhibition by the latter compound is not affected by the absence of oxygen, and the presence of substrate exerts no protective action. 4. Hydrazine does not inhibit monoamine oxidase unless a substrate and oxygen are present. 5. Phenethylidenehydrazine was found to be a time-dependent inhibitor of monoamine oxidase and the rate of inhibition was hindered by increasing oxygen concentration. 6. A mechanism for the inhibition of the enzyme by phenethylhydrazine is proposed in which the product of oxidation of this compound is a potent reversible inhibitor and an irreversible inhibitor of the enzyme. A computer simulation of such a mechanism predicts time-courses of inhibition that are in reasonable agreement with those observed experimentally.