Effect of lignocaine on monoamine oxidase activity of brain and liver.

In vivo administration of a single dose (100-150 mg/kg, i.p.) of lignocaine produces no change in MAO activity, while long-term treatment (50 mg/kg/day for 15 and 30 consecutive days, i.p.) produces a slight but appreciable inhibition of MAO activity with tyramine or serotonin but not with benzylamine as substrate in both rat brain and liver mitochondria. Lignocaine (2-20 mM) inhibits (in vitro) both brain and liver mitochondrial MAO activity, using tyramine, serotonin and benzylamine as substrates, in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, lignocaine produces a marked in vitro inhibition of serotonin and tyramine oxidation in MAO-A and not in MAO-B preparation of rat brain. Ackermann-Potter plots of MAO indicate that lignocaine-induced inhibition of MAO activity is reversible in nature. Lineweaver-Burk plots show that lignocaine (2-10 mM) produces a significant increase in Km and decrease in Vmax of MAO for tyramine and serotonin in both brain and liver. Similarly Km and Vmax values are changed using benzylamine as substrate in the presence of relatively higher concentrations of lignocaine (5-20 mM). These results suggest that lignocaine-induced inhibition of mitochondrial membrane-bound MAO activity of both neuronal and non-neuronal tissues is associated with its conformational change.