RESUMO
A comparative analysis of the effect of the five acridine, three phenothiazine and one xanten (pyronine G) derivatives on the activity of liver mitochondrial monoamine oxidase (MAO) in sexually mature male river lampreys Lampetra fluviatilis has been conducted. Tyramine, dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline, benzylamine, ß-phenylethylamine and N-methylhistamine have been used as substrates for analyzing the monoamine oxidase activity of heterocyclic compounds. The analyzed synthetic hexamerous tricyclic compounds exhibit irreversible inhibition of the enzyme but no specificity depending on the desaminated substrate. The number and identity of heteroatoms in the analyzed heterocyclic compounds have been established to influence their inhibitory efficiency. The data of substrate-inhibitory analysis obtained with the use of the specific substrates provide indirect evidence for the existence of a single MAO form in the lamprey liver.