Neuropharmacological, neuroprotective and amyloid precursor processing properties of selective MAO-B inhibitor antiparkinsonian drug, rasagiline
by
Youdim MB, Maruyama W, Naoi M.
Eve Topf and NPF Centers of Excellence for Neurodegenerative
Diseases Research and Department of Pharmacology,
Technion-Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Haifa, Israel.
Youdim@tx.technion.ac.il.
Drugs Today (Barc). 2005 Jun;41(6):369-91.

ABSTRACT

Rasagiline (N-propargyl-1R-aminoindan) is a novel, highly potent, irreversible monoamine oxidase (MAO)-B inhibitor designed for use as an antiparkinsonian drug. Unlike selegiline, rasagiline is not derived from amphetamine or metabolized to neurotoxic l-methamphetamine derivative, and it does not have sympathomimetic activity. Moreover, at selective MAO-B inhibitory dosage, it does not induce a "cheese reaction." Rasagiline is effective as monotherapy or as an adjunct to L-dopa for patients with early and late Parkinson's disease. Adverse events do not occur with greater frequency in subjects receiving rasagiline than in those on placebo. Its S-isomer, TVP1022, is more than a thousand times less potent as an MAO inhibitor. However, both drugs have neuroprotective activities in neuronal cell cultures in response to various neurotoxins, as well as in vivo (e.g., in response to global ischemia, neurotrauma, head injury, anoxia, etc.), indicating that MAO inhibition is not a prerequisite for neuroprotection. The neuroprotective activity of these drugs has been demonstrated to be associated with the propargylamine moiety, which protects mitochondrial viability and mitochondrial permeability transition pore by activating Bcl-2 and downregulating the Bax family of proteins. Rasagiline processes amyloid precursor protein (APP) into the neuroprotective-neurotrophic soluble APPalpha (sAPPalpha) by protein kinase C- and mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent activation of alpha-secretase, and increases nerve growth factor, glial cell- derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression and proteins. Thus, rasagiline may induce neuroprotection, neuroplasticity and long-term potentiation. Rasagiline has therefore been chosen by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study its neuroprotective effects in neurodegenerative diseases. Long-term studies are required to evaluate the drug's disease-modifying prospects in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

MAOIs
Rasagiline
Neuroprotection
Rasagiline: structure
MAO-b inhibitors/PD
Anti-apoptotic activity
Molecular mechanisms
Rasagiline pharmacology
Induction of pro-survival genes
Rasagiline and the mitochondria
Antioxidant strategies against aging
Anti-Alzheimer/anti-Parkinson's drugs
Rasagiline versus selegiline metabolites
Rasagiline/ anti-apoptotic bcl-2 gene family
Dual AChE and MAO inhibitors and Alzheimer's
Rasagiline v selegiline: neuronal survival effects
Rasagiline (Agilect) in early Parkinson's disease

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