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Increase of 5-Hydroxytryptamine in Blood Platelets by Isopropyl-isonicotinic Acid Hydrazide

Abstract

IT has been found that isopropyl-isonicotinic acid hydrazide (iproniazid, ‘Marsilid’) causes an increase of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) and norepinephrine content of the brain in various animal species1,2. Furthermore, a significant rise of the catecholamine content in the myocardium of guinea-pigs could be observed after administration, of iproniazid3. These effects are probably due to inhibition of monoamine oxidase, an enzyme which is present in brain and in heart and which is markedly inhibited by iproniazid. Isonicotinic acid hydrazide (isoniazid, ‘Rimifon’), a compound which inhibits monoamine oxidase much less than iproniazid, causes little or no rise of the above-mentioned amines in brain and heart3–9.

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PLETSCHER, A., BERNSTEIN, A. Increase of 5-Hydroxytryptamine in Blood Platelets by Isopropyl-isonicotinic Acid Hydrazide. Nature 181, 1133–1134 (1958). https://doi.org/10.1038/1811133a0

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