Kotake Y, Tasaki Y, Hirobe M, Ohta S
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113, Japan.
Brain Res. 1998 Mar 23;787(2):341-3. doi: 10.1016/s0006-8993(97)01560-6.
We examined the effect of deprenyl, a promising drug for the therapy of Parkinson's disease on the formation of a parkinsonism-inducing compound, 1-benzyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (1BnTIQ). The 1BnTIQ content was significantly decreased in the brain of deprenyl-treated mouse in vivo, and deprenyl also inhibited 1BnTIQ formation from phenethylamine by a mouse brain homogenate supernatant in vitro. In vivo, the content of a parkinsonism-preventing compound, 1-methyl-1,2,3, 4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (1MeTIQ) was slightly increased in mice injected with deprenyl. The marked decrease of the ratio of 1BnTIQ to 1MeTIQ might play a role in the clinical effect of deprenyl.