hypotension and hallucinations. The amphetamine metabolites are hydroxylated and, in phase II, conjugated by glucuronyltransferase. A newer anti-Parkinson MAO-B inhibitor, rasagiline, metabolizes into 1(R)-aminoindan, which has no amphetamine-like characteristics. Patch Following application of the patch to humans, an average of 25% to 30% of the selegiline content is delivered systemically over 24 hours. 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. Chinoin received a patent on the drug in 1962 and the compound was first published in the scientific literature in English in 1965. Work on the biology and effects of E-250 in animals and humans was conducted by a group led by József Knoll at Semmelweis University which was also in Budapest. Deprenyl is a racemic compound a mixture of two isomers called enantiomers. Further work determined that the levorotatory enantiomer was a more potent MAO-inhibitor, which was published in 1967, and subsequent work was done with the single enantiomer L-deprenyl. In 1971, Knoll showed that selegiline selectively inhibits the B-isoform of monoamine oxidase (MAO-B) and proposed that it is unlikely to cause the infamous "cheese effect" (hypertensive crisis resulting from consuming foods containing tyramine) that occurs with non-selective