Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-995ml Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T16:38:10.531Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors: Rehabilitation from Recent Research?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

David Nutt*
Affiliation:
Reckitt and Colman Psychopharmacology Unit, Department of Pharmacology, The Medical School, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD
Paul Glue
Affiliation:
Reckitt and Colman Psychopharmacology Unit, Department of Pharmacology, The Medical School, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD
*
Correspondence

Extract

For a long time, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) have been the Cinderella drugs of psycho-pharmacy. Although they were introduced just before the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), they rapidly became second-line treatments. Several factors contributed to this, in particular the dietary restrictions, the scattered reports of death from overdose and/or toxic interactions, and the unfavourable reports on the efficacy of phenelzine in depression from, among others, the Medical Research Council trial (1965). For a number of years afterwards, prescription of these drugs was limited to a few enthusiasts. More recently, however, their popularity has increased owing firstly to a re-evaluation of their effectiveness in tricyclic-resistant depression and in anxiety disorders, and secondly to growing awareness of the exaggerated claims made about their dangerousness (Pare, 1985).

Type
Annotation
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM-III-R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Ask, A. L., Fagervall, I., Jonze, M., et al (1984) Effects of acute and repeated administration of amiflamine on monoamine oxidase inhibition in the rat. Biochemical Pharmacology, 33, 28392847.Google Scholar
Baldessarini, R. J. (1984) Treatment of depression by altering monoamine metabolism: precursors and metabolic inhibitors. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 20, 224239.Google Scholar
Beaumont, C. (1973) Drug interactions with clomipramine (Anafranil). Journal of International Medical Research, 1, 480484.Google Scholar
Bieck, P. R. & Antonin, K. H. (1988) Tyramine potentiation during treatment with MAO inhibitors: brofaromine and moclobemide vs irreversible inhibitors. Psychopharmacology (Berlin) (suppl.), 31-TU 18.03.Google Scholar
Blackwell, B. (1963) Hypertensive crisis due to monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Lancet, ii, 849851.Google Scholar
Blier, P. & de Montigny, C. (1987) Antidepressant monoamine oxidase inhibitors enhance serotonin but not norepinephrine neurotransmission. In Clinical Pharmacology in Psychiatry (eds Dahl, S. G., Gram, L. F., Paul, S. M. & Potter, W. Z.), pp. 127134. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Buiges, J. & Vallejo, J. (1987) Therapeutic response to phenelzine in patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 48, 5559.Google Scholar
Charney, D. S. & Redmond, D. E. (1983) Neurobiological mechanisms in human anxiety. Neuropharmacology, 22, 15311536.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charney, D. S. & Heninger, G. R. (1986) Abnormal regulation of noradrenergic function in panic disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 43, 10421054.Google Scholar
Coppen, A., Shaw, D. M. & Farrell, J. P. (1963) Potentiation of the antidepressive effect of a monoamine oxidase inhibitor by tryptophan. Lancet, i, 7981.Google Scholar
Davidson, J. & Raft, D. (1985) Monoamine oxidase inhibitors in patients with chronic pain. Archives General Psychiatry, 42, 635636.Google Scholar
Dilsaver, S. C. (1988) Monoamine oxidase inhibitor withdrawal phenomena: symptoms and pathophysiology. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 78, 17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graham, P. M. & Ilett, K. F. (1988) Danger of MAOI therapy after fluoxetine withdrawal. Lancet, ii, 12551256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hauger, R. L., Scheinin, M., Siever, L. J., et al (1988) Dissociation of norepinephrine turnover from alpha-2 responses after clorgyline. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 43, 3238.Google Scholar
Jenike, M. A., Surman, O. S., Cassem, N. H., et al (1983) Monoamine oxidase inhibitors in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 44, 131132.Google Scholar
Kelly, D., Guirguis, W., Frommer, E., et al (1970) Treatment of phobic states with antidepressants. British Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 387398.Google Scholar
Kennedy, S. H., Piran, N. & Garfinkel, P. E. (1985) Monoamine oxidase inhibitor therapy for anorexia nervosa and bulimia: a preliminary trial of isocarboxazid. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 5, 279285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, A. (1962) Phenelzine treatment of Roth's calamity syndrome. Medical Journal of Australia, 23, 879883.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korn, A., Gasic, S., Jung, M., et al (1984) Influence of moclobemide (RO 11–1163) on the peripheral adrenergic system: interaction with tyramine and tricyclic antidepressants. In Monoamine Oxidase and Disease. Prospects for Therapy with Reversible Inhibitors (eds Tipton, K. F., Dostert, P. & Benedetti, M. S.), pp. 487496. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Larsen, J. K., Holm, P. & Mikkelsen, P. L. (1984) Moclobemide and clomipramine in the treatment of depression. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 70, 254260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liebowitz, M. R., Quitkin, F. M., Stewart, J. W., et al (1985) Effect of panic attacks on the treatment of atypical depressives. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 21, 558561.Google ScholarPubMed
Liebowitz, M. R., Fyer, A. J., Gorman, J. M., et al (1986) Phenelzine in social phobia. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 6, 9398.Google Scholar
Liebowitz, M. R., Quitkin, F. M., Stewart, J. W., et al (1988) Antidepressant specificity in atypical depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 45, 129137.Google Scholar
Lipsedge, M. S., Hajioff, J., Huggins, P., et al (1973) The management of severe agoraphobia: a comparison of iproniazid and systematic desensitisation. Psychopharmacologica (Berlin), 32, 6780.Google Scholar
Lydiard, R. B. & Ballenger, J. C. (1987) Antidepressants in panic disorder and agoraphobia. Journal of Affective Disorders, 13, 153168.Google Scholar
Marks, I. M. (1985) Behavioural treatment of social phobia. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 21, 615618.Google Scholar
Marley, E. & Wozniak, K. M. (1983) Clinical and experimental aspects of interactions between amine oxidase inhibitors and amine reuptake inhibitors. Psychological Medicine, 13, 735749.Google Scholar
McGrath, P. J., Quitkin, F. M., Harrison, W. M., et al (1984) Treatment of melancholia with tranylcypromine. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 288289.Google ScholarPubMed
Medical Research Council (1965) Clinical trial of the treatment of depressive illness. British Medical Journal, i, 881886.Google Scholar
Murphy, D. L., Garrick, N. A., Aulakh, C. S., et al (1984) New contributions from basic science to understanding the effects of monoamine oxidase inhibiting antidepressants. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 45, 3743.Google ScholarPubMed
Murphy, D. L., Tamarkin, L., Sunderland, T., et al (1986) Human plasma melatonin is elevated during treatment with the monoamine oxidase inhibitors clorgyline and tranylcypromine but not deprenyl. Psychiatry Research, 17, 119127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, D. L., Aulakh, C. S., Garrick, N. A., et al (1987) Monoamine oxidase inhibitors as antidepressants: implications for the mechanism of action of antidepressants and the psychobiology of the affective disorders and some related disorders. In Psychopharmacology: The Third Generation of Progress (ed. Meltzer, H. Y.), pp. 545552. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, J. C. & Byck, R. (1982) Rapid response to lithium in phenelzine non-responders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 8586.Google Scholar
Nies, A. & Robinson, D. S. (1982) Monoamine oxidase inhibitors. In Handbook of Affective Disorders (ed. Paykel, E. S.), pp. 246261. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Nutt, D. J. & Cowen, P. J. (1988) Monoamine function in anxiety and depression: information from neuroendocrine challenge tests. Human Psychopharmacology, 2, 211220.Google Scholar
Nutt, D. J. & Glue, P. (1989) Clinical pharmacology of anxiolytics and antidepressants: a psychopharmacological perspective. Pharmacology and Therapeutics (in press).Google Scholar
Palfreyman, M. G., McDonald, I., Zreika, M., et al (1984) The prodrug approach to brain selective MAO inhibition. In Monoamine Oxidase and Disease. Prospects for Therapy with Reversible Inhibitors (eds Tipton, K. F., Dostert, P. & Benedetti, M. S.), pp. 561562. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Pare, C. M. B. (1985) The present status of monoamine oxidase inhibitors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 576584.Google Scholar
Pare, C. M. B., Kline, N., Hallstrom, C., et al (1982) Will amitriptyline prevent the “cheese” reaction of monoamine oxidase inhibitors? Lancet, ii, 183186.Google Scholar
Quitkin, F. M., Rifkin, A. & Klein, D. F. (1979) Monoamine oxidase inhibitors: a review of antidepressant effectiveness. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 749760.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quitkin, F. M., Liebowitz, M. R., Stewart, J. W., et al (1984) 1-Deprenyl in atypical depressives. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 777781.Google Scholar
Robinson, D. S., Kayser, A., Corcella, J., et al (1985) Panic attacks in outpatients with depression: response to antidepressant treatment. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 21, 562567.Google Scholar
Ross, R. J., Scheinin, M., Lesieur, P., et al (1985) The effect of clorgyline on noradrenergic function. Psychopharmacology (Berlin), 85, 227230.Google Scholar
Rudorfer, M. V., Ross, R. J., Linnoila, M., et al (1985) Exaggerated orthostatic responsivity of plasma norepinephrine in depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, 11861192.Google Scholar
Rudorfer, M. V., Linnoila, M. & Potter, W. Z. (1987) Accidental antidepressants: search for specific action. In Clinical Pharmacology in Psychiatry (eds Dahl, S. G., Gram, L. F., Paul, S. M. & Potter, W. Z.), pp. 157166. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Sargant, W. (1963) Combining the antidepressant drugs. Lancet, ii, 634635.Google Scholar
Sargant, W. & Dally, P. (1962) Treatment of anxiety states by antidepressant drugs. British Medical Journal, i, 69.Google Scholar
Schachter, M., Marsden, C. D., Parkes, J. D., et al (1980) Deprenyl in the management of response fluctuations in patients with Parkinson's disease on levodopa. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 43, 10161021.Google Scholar
Schiwy, W., Delini-Stula, A. & Heath, W. R. (1988) Brofaromine (MAO-A-inhibitor): summary of dose-finding studies in major (“endogenous”) and other (“non-endogenous”) depressions. Psychopharmacology (Berlin) (suppl.), 31-TU 18.04.Google Scholar
Schoerlin, M-P., Mayersohn, M., Korn, A., et al (1987) Disposition kinetics of moclobemide, a monoamine oxidase-A enzyme inhibitor: single and multiple dosing in normal subjects. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 42, 395404.Google Scholar
Sethna, E. R. (1974) A study of refractory cases in depressive illnesses and their response to combined antidepressant treatment. British Journal of Psychiatry, 124, 265272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheehan, D. V., Ballenger, J. C. & Jacobsen, G. (1980) Treatment of endogenous anxiety with phobic, hysterical, and hypochondriacal symptoms. Archives of General Psychiatry, 37, 5159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singer, T. P. & Salach, J. I. (1981) Suicide inhibitors of central nervous system enzymes. In Essays in Neurochemistry and Neuropharmacology, vol. 5 (eds Youdim, M. B. H., Lovenberg, W., Sharman, D. F. & Lagnado, J.), pp. 131153. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Spector, S., Hirsh, C. W. & Brodie, B. B. (1963) Association of behavioural effects of pargyline, a non-hydrazine MAO inhibitor with increase in brain norepinephrine. International Journal of Neuropharmacology, 2, 8193.Google Scholar
Sunderland, T., Mueller, E. A., Cohen, R. M., et al (1985) Tyramine pressor sensitivity changes during deprenyl treatment. Psychopharmacology (Berlin), 86, 432437.Google Scholar
Sunderland, T., Candy, J. & Kelly, D. (1973) A study of the clinical effects of phenelzine and placebo in the treatment of phobic anxiety. Psychopharmacologica (Berlin), 32, 237254.Google Scholar
Tyrer, P. (1982) Monoamine oxidase inhibitors and amine precursors. In Drugs in Psychiatric Practice (ed. Tyrer, P.), pp. 249279. London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Walsh, B. T., Stewart, J. W., Roose, S. P., et al (1984) Treatment of bulimia with phenelzine. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 11051109.Google Scholar
West, E. D. & Dally, P. (1959) Effects of iproniazid on depressive syndromes. British Medical Journal, i, 14911494.Google Scholar
Youdim, M. B. H. & Finberg, J. P. M. (1985) Monoamine oxidase inhibitor antidepressants. In Psychopharmacology 2, Part 1: Preclinical Psychopharmacology (ed. Grahame-Smith, D. G.), pp. 3570. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Zametkin, A., Rapoport, J. L., Murphy, D. L., et al (1985) Treatment of hyperactive children with monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, 962977.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.