Cerebral MAO Activity Is Not Altered by a Novel Herbal Antidepressant Treatment

• Published in: Journal of molecular neuroscience 2019-11, Vol.69 (3), p.371-379
• Main Authors: Doron, Ravid, Versano, Ziv, Burstein, Or, Franko, Motty, Shamir, Alon, Toledano, Roni, Handelsman, Assaf, Rehavi, Moshe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amine oxidase (flavin-containing); Animals; Anti-Anxiety Agents - pharmacology; Anti-Anxiety Agents - therapeutic use; Antidepressants; Antidepressive Agents - pharmacology; Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use; Anxiety; Anxiolytics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cell Biology; Cheese; Citalopram; Citalopram - therapeutic use; Corpus Striatum - drug effects; Corpus Striatum - enzymology; Crataegus; Dairy products; Depression - drug therapy; Depression - etiology; Diet; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Exposure; Extracellular levels; Hypertension; Hypothalamus; Hypothalamus - drug effects; Hypothalamus - enzymology; Inhibition; Lilium; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Monoamine Oxidase - analysis; Monoamine Oxidase - biosynthesis; Neostriatum; Nerve Tissue Proteins - analysis; Neurochemistry; Neurology; Neurosciences; Phytotherapy; Plant Preparations - therapeutic use; Prefrontal cortex; Prefrontal Cortex - drug effects; Prefrontal Cortex - enzymology; Proteomics; Serotonin; Serotonin uptake inhibitors; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Signs and symptoms; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Triticum; Tyramine; Tyramine - metabolism; Ziziphus
• ISSN: 0895-8696; 1559-1166
• DOI: 10.1007/s12031-019-01366-0

Inhibition of monoamine oxidase (MAO)-A/B can ameliorate depressive- and anxiety-related symptoms via increase of monoamine extracellular levels. However, such inhibition can also instigate hypertensive response following exposure to dietary tyramine (i.e., “the cheese effect”). Novel herbal treatment (NHT) is an herbal formula that has been demonstrated to reduce depressive- and anxiety-like symptoms in pre-clinical studies. The aim of the current study was to examine whether the therapeutic potential of NHT is underlain by inhibition of MAO-A/B and whether NHT poses a risk for tyramine hyper-potentiation. Unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS)–exposed mice and naïve mice were treated for 3 weeks with NHT (30 mg/kg; i.p.), the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) escitalopram (15 mg/kg; i.p.), or saline. Subsequently, MAO-A/B activities in the hypothalamus, striatum, and prefrontal cortex (PFC) were assessed. Exposure to UCMS led to significant increases in both MAO-A and MAO-B activities in the hypothalamus ( p