Enhanced catecholaminergic and serotoninergic activity in rat brain from weaning to sexual maturity: rationale for prophylactic (-)deprenyl (selegiline) medication.

Food deprived rats in the late developmental phase of life (2 months of age) are significantly more active than those in the early postdevelopmental phase (4 months of age), pointing to enhanced catecholaminergic activity during the developmental phase. We therefore measured the resting release of dopamine from the striatum, substantia nigra and tuberculum olfactorium, and of noradrenaline from the locus coeruleus, as an indicator of the basic activity of catecholaminergic neurons in the brain, in 2,4,8,16 and 32 weeks old male and female rats. We also measured the release of serotonin from the raphe. Both in male and female rats, the resting release of transmitters from brain catecholaminergic and serotoninergic neurons between weaning and the end of the 2nd month of age, i.e. during the crucial developmental phase of their life, was significantly higher than either before or after that period, signalling a transition from a developmental to a postdevelopmental (aging) phase of life and indicating that safe and effective measures are needed to maintain the catecholaminergic system at a higher activity level during the postdevelopmental phase. Daily administration of low doses (0.01-0.25 mg/kg) of (-)deprenyl for 21 days significantly enhances the resting release of catecholamines and diminishes that of serotonin, providing a rationale for prophylactic medication with this drug during the postdevelopmental lifespan. We also show that (-)methamphetamine, the parent compound of (-)deprenyl and (-)1-phenyl-2-propylaminopentane (PPAP), a deprenyl analogue free of MAO-B inhibitory potency but otherwise possessing the same pharmacological profile as (-)deprenyl, act similarly, furnishing direct evidence that enhancement of catecholaminergic activity in the brain by multiple, small dose administration of (-)deprenyl is unrelated to MAO-B inhibition.