Local Treatment of Experimental Burns with a Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor

Abstract

PREVIOUS work has shown that prior systemic administration of inhibitors of the enzyme monoamine oxidase led to striking diminution of the increased capillary permeability that followed thermal and chemical injury in rats¹. Similar anti-inflammatory properties have been reported independently². This effect may be due to the preservation of an adrenaline-like substance the destruction of which by monoamine oxidase might permit the full development of the inflammatory reaction. The present investigation was undertaken to determine whether monamine oxidase inhibitors would reduce inflammatory œdema when applied locally after thermal injury.