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The effect of selegiline on total scavenger capacity and liver fat content: a preliminary study in an animal model

  • Basic Neurosciences, Genetics and Immunology - Original Article
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Abstract

Selegiline is a selective irreversible inhibitor of the B-type of monoamine oxidase (MAO-B). The spectrum of its pharmacological activity is wide, possesses antioxidant, antiapoptotic and neuroprotective properties and, additionally, we found it is effective on the total scavenger capacity (TSC), and the regulation of fat content in rat liver kept on lipid-rich diet. Our aim was to clarify whether the oral treatment with selegiline is protective on oxidative damage of Sprague–Dawley adult rats in vivo. Four groups of rats (five animals in a group) were examined: (1) lipid-rich diet, (2) normal rat food, (3) lipid-rich diet + selegiline and (4) normal rat food + selegiline. Selegiline solution (2.5 µg/ml) was supplied with the drinking water, which was freely available for the animals. Regarding the drinking habit of the rats (20–30 ml/day), the daily dose was roughly equal with that used in the human therapy (5–10 mg/day). TSC was determined both at the beginning (0 day) and at the end of the study (28 days), when the blood samples were taken for chemiluminometric assay. Fat content of the liver was determined in the freshly frozen tissue by Sudan staining. TSC was increased in both the selegiline-treated groups. Selegiline treatment prevented the increase of liver fat in the group fed with lipid-rich diet. Our results led us to the conclusion that prolonged selegiline administration can raise the antioxidant capacity of the animals and prevents the accumulation of fat in their livers.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful for Krisztina Nagy for her kind help and cooperation, and for the chemiluminometric assay provided by DIACHEM Ltd. (4 Hogyes Endre str., Budapest, Hungary, H-1092). The authors wish to thank M. Knippel for her kind assistance in preparing the manuscript. This work was supported by the grants of Society of Innovative Pharmacologists, Hungarian Academy of Sciences Foundation OTKA 63415 and ETT 141/2003 grants and Maecenator Foundation.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Second Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, 46 Szentkiralyi utca, Budapest, 1088, Hungary

    Gabor Bekesi, Zsolt Tulassay, Gabriella Lengyel, Julia Stark, Istvan Marczell, Peter Nagy-Repas, Ildiko Adler & Karoly Racz

  2. Second Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, 93 Ulloi ut, Budapest, 1091, Hungary

    Zsuzsa Schaff

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Pathophysiology, Semmelweis University, 4 Nagyvarad ter, Budapest, 1089, Hungary

    Dezso Szombath

  4. Department of Health Informatics, Development and Postgraduate Education, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, 78 Ulloi ut, Budapest, 1082, Hungary

    Elek Dinya

  5. Department of Pharmacodynamics, Semmelweis University, 4 Nagyvarad ter, Budapest, 1089, Hungary

    Kalman Magyar

  6. Neurochemical Research Unit, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Kalman Magyar

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  1. Gabor Bekesi
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  2. Zsolt Tulassay
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  9. Ildiko Adler
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  12. Kalman Magyar
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Correspondence to Gabor Bekesi.

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Bekesi, G., Tulassay, Z., Lengyel, G. et al. The effect of selegiline on total scavenger capacity and liver fat content: a preliminary study in an animal model. J Neural Transm 119, 25–30 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-011-0666-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-011-0666-x

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