Comparative study of inhibitory specificity of liver monoamine oxidase in frogs Rana ridibunda and Rana temporaria

Abstract

A comparative enzymological investigation of inhibitory specificity of the liver monoamine oxidases (MAO) from the two frog species, lake frog Rana ridibunda and grass frog Rana temporaria, revealed certain interspecies similarities and distinctions of this enzyme. The anti-monoamine oxidase effect of five derivatives of acridine, three derivatives of phenothiazine and one derivative of xanthene (pyronine G) was comparatively analyzed. The tested six-membered tricyclic compounds were shown to exert an irreversible inhibitory effect on the enzyme from both biological sources, displaying the same substrate deamination specificity. Thus, the rate of interaction of acridine and phenothiazine derivatives with the MAO active center in both frog species was considerably higher when activity was determined using noradrenaline versus N-methylhistamine, while that of pyronine G—when activity was determined using N-methylhistamine versus noradrenaline. Interspecies quantitative differences were found in the inhibitory efficacy and degree of selectivity of the tested tricyclic compounds, indicative of the differences in catalytic properties of liver MAO at the interspecies level in the representatives of the genus Rana, family Ranidae. The data of substratespecific inhibitory analysis provide indirect evidence of the existence of two molecular MAO forms in the liver of the studied frog species.