Monoamine oxidase A inhibitor occupancy during treatment of major depressive episodes with moclobemide or St. John’s wort: an [¹¹C]-harmine PET study

Abstract

For new MAO-A inhibitors, about 74% occupancy at steady-state dosing is desirable. Consistent with this, St. John's wort should not be classified as an MAO-A inhibitor. The magnitude of MAO-A blockade during moclobemide treatment exceeds the elevation of MAO-A binding during illness by at least 30%, suggesting that the treatment effect should exceed the disease effect when designing selective antidepressants for this target.