Posted by King Vultan on October 24, 2004, at 10:28:13
In reply to Re: MAOIs decrease density of DA receptors- KingVultan, posted by Kristel on October 24, 2004, at 5:47:28
> > Todd,
> >
> > Thought you might like to see this abstract which seems to confirm what you've been saying. Here's the key sentence from it:
> >
> > "MAOI antidepressants induced a decrease in the density of both D1-like and D2-like DA receptors."
> >
> > Here's the link:
> >
> > http://www.chocolate.org/peadep.htm
> >
> > Kara
>
> And that is a negative thing to happen ?!!
>
> In fact the opposite might be true. Decrease in receptos density mean down-regulation which is thought of as the anti-depressant mechanism of these drugs. Decrease in density means increase in sensitivity of the receptors.
No, decreasing density is the same as reducing sensitivity; hypersensitivity implies that there are many more receptors than are ideal in a particular area. Downregulation decreases sensitivity by reducing the number of receptors.Be that as it may, the abstract is interesting, but I don't know enough about dopamine receptors to come to any firm conclusions myself. I was aware that phenylethylamine is a classic MAO-B substrate, which is one of the reasons behind chocolate appearing on some of the "Do not eat" lists for MAOI patients (PEA has been called the "chocolate amphetamine"). Inhibiting MAO-B as do the older MAOIs--and as selegiline does, as well--does increase PEA levels, and there appears to be at least a possibility that there may be some therapeutic benefits from this.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:406550
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041024/msgs/406614.html