Amphetamine and 2-phenylethylamine in post-mortem Parkinsonian brain after (-)deprenyl administration.

Deprenyl is an inhibitor of monoamine oxidase type B, the enzyme responsible for 2-phenylethylamine oxidation, and is used in conjunction with L-Dopa therapy in Parkinson's disease. Post-mortem studies in human brain tissue have shown that after (-)deprenyl administration to parkinsonian patients amphetamine is present in concentrations up to 56 ng/g. It also could be shown that phenylethylamine concentrations are substantially increased in such patients. Phenylethylamine and amphetamine have been investigated using a gas chromatographic technique.