Transdermal dosing results in significantly higher exposure to selegiline and lower exposure to all metabolites when compared to oral dosing; this is due to the extensive first-pass metabolism of the pill form and low first-pass metabolism of the patch form. The site of application is not a significant factor in how the drug is distributed. In humans, selegiline does not accumulate in the skin, nor is it metabolized there. Chemistry
Selegiline belongs to the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical families. It is also known as L-deprenyl, as well as (R)-(–)-N,α-dimethyl-N-(2-propynyl)phenethylamine or (R)-(–)-N-methyl-N-2-propynylamphetamine. The compound is a derivative of levomethamphetamine (L-methamphetamine) with a propargyl group attached to the nitrogen atom. This detail is borrowed from pargyline, an older MAO-B inhibitor of the phenylalkylamine group. Selegiline is the levorotatory enantiomer of the racemic mixture deprenyl. Selegiline is synthesized by the alkylation of (–)-methamphetamine using propargyl bromide.Another clinically used MAOI of the amphetamine class is tranylcypromine. History
Following the discovery that the tuberculosis drug iproniazid elevated the mood of people taking it, and the subsequent discovery that the effect was likely due to inhibition of MAO, many people and companies started trying to discover MAO inhibitors to use as antidepressants. Selegiline was discovered by Zoltan Ecseri at the Hungarian drug company, Chinoin (part of Sanofi since 1993), which they called E-250.
Pineoblastoma is a malignant tumor of the pineal gland. A pineoblastoma is a supratentorial midline primitive neuroectodermal tumor.Pineoblastoma may occur in patients with hereditary uni- or bilateral retinoblastoma. When retinoblastoma patients present with pineoblastoma this is characterized as "trilateral retinoblastoma". Up to 5% of patients with hereditary retinoblastoma are at risk of developing trilateral retinoblastoma. Prognosis of patients with trilateral retinoblastoma is dismal, only a few patients have survived more than 5 years after diagnosis; all survivors were diagnosed with small tumors in a subclinical stage. Recent advances in (high-dose) chemotherapy treatment regimens and early detection have improved survival of patients with trilateral retinoblastoma to up to 50%. References


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