Pargyline is an irreversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase (MAO; Kis = 15 and 1.8 μM for MAO-A and MAO-B, respectively).1 At 10 mg/kg i.v., pargyline induces a moderate decrease of systolic blood pressure in unanaesthetized hypertensive rats but not normotensive WKR or Sprague-Dawley rats.2 The correlation between the fall of blood pressure and the inhibition of brain MAO suggests that the accumulation of amine in brain is responsible for the fall in pressure.3 Reactive oxygen species-mediated monocyte hypertrophy is prevented by pargyline at a concentration of 10 ?M.4 Formulations containing pargyline have been used to treat moderate hypertension.4,5
1.Fowler, C.J., Mantle, T.J., and Tipton, K.F.The nature of the inhibition of rat liver monoamine oxidase types A and B by the acetylenic inhibitors clorgyline, l-deprenyl and pargylineBiochem. Pharmacol.31(22)3555-3561(1982) 2.Fuentes, J.A., Ordaz, A., and Neff, N.H.Central mediation of the antihypertensive effect of pargyline in spontaneously hypertensive ratsEur. J. Pharmacol.57(1)21-27(1979) 3.Yamori, Y., De Jong, W., Yamabe, H., et al.Effects of L-dopa and inhibitors of decarboxylase and monoamine oxidase on brain noradrenaline leves and blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive ratsJ. Pharm. Pharmacol.24(9)690-695(1972) 4.Bianchi, P., Pimentel, D.R., Murphy, M.P., et al.A new hypertrophic mechanism of serotonin in cardiac myocytes: Receptor-independent ROS generationFASEB J.19(6)641-643(2005) 5.Puig, M., Wakade, A.R., and Kirpekar, S.M.Effect of the sympathetic nervous system of chronic treatment with parglyline and l-DOPAJ. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther.182(1)130-134(1972)