[Monoamine oxidase inhibition by pyrrole quinoline derivatives]

The effect of 1-(beta-aminoethyl)-3H-pyrrole[2,3-h]quinoline (I), 3-(beta-aminoethyl)-1H-pyrrole[2,3-h]quinoline (I'), 8-amino-3H-pyrrole[2,3-h]quinoline (II), 6-amino-3H-pyrrole[2,3-h]quinoline (II') and 8-amino-1H-pyrrole[2,3-h]quinoline (III) on tyramine, serotonin and 2-phenylethylamine deaminase activities of mitochondrial monoamine oxidase from bovine brain were studied. All the compounds tested appeared to be reversibly inhibit MAO without preliminary incubation. Compounds II, II' and III specifically inhibited type A MAO; compound III exhibited the highest selectivity. The inhibition was of a mixed type. The effects of compounds I and I' were competitive and inconsistent with a classical concept on the dual activity of MAO, i. e., deamination of tyramine, a substrate common for MAO type A and MAO type B was inhibited in a greater degree than the deamination of specific substrates of MAO type A (serotonin) or type B (2-phenylethylamine). Possible reasons for the observed phenomenon are discussed.