Effect of p-chloramphetamine on the inactivation of monoamine oxidase in rat brain by 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone, 2-hydroxyethylhydrazine and pheylisopropylhydrazine.

p-Chloroamphetamine protected against the irreversible inactivation of monoamine oxidase in rat brain and liver by 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone, an agent that leads to monoamine oxidase inhibition through conversion to an active metabolite, probably 2-hydroxyethyl-hydrazine. In contrast, p-chloramphetamine did not protect against the inactivation of monoamine oxidase by 2-hydroxyethylhydrazine itself or by phenylisoprophylhydrazine. The effect on 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone may have been due to interference with its metabolism rather than to occupancy of active sites on monoamine oxidase by p-chloroamphetamine. Some implications of these findings relating ot the use of 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone in evaluating reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitors and to the pharmacological effects of p-chloroamphetamine are discussed.