Bifemelane

Bifemelane (INN) (Alnert, Celeport), or bifemelane hydrochloride (JAN), also known as 4-(O-benzylphenoxy)-N-methylbutylamine, is an antidepressant and cerebral activator that was widely used in the treatment of cerebral infarction patients with depressive symptoms in Japan, and in the treatment of senile dementia as well. It also appears to be useful in the treatment of glaucoma. It has been discontinued in Japan since 1998, when it was removed from the market reportedly for lack of effectiveness.

Bifemelane acts as a monoamine oxidase inhibitor of both isoenzymes, with competitive (reversible) inhibition of MAO-A (Ki = 4.20 μM) (making it a reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase A (RIMA)) and non-competitive (irreversible) inhibition of MAO-B (Ki = 46.0 μM),   and also acts (weakly) as a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. The drug has nootropic, neuroprotective, and antidepressant-like effects in animal models, and appears to enhance the cholinergic system in the brain.