Transdermal selegiline avoids adverse effects of oral form. (Drug-Drug Interactions).

A new transdermal formulation of the monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) selegiline (Eldepryl) has proven effective in controlling depression without generating the serious side effects of oral MAOIs. The first placebo-controlled trial of transdermal selegiline reported a significantly greater improvement in symptoms of depression in patients taking transdermal selegiline as compared to patients taking placebo, with none of the dietary interactions associated with the oral formulation.

"The reason MAOIs aren't being used anymore is not because they aren't effective," lead investigator J. Alexander Bodkin, M.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and Associate Psychiatrist, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, told The Brown University Geriatric Psychopharmacology Update. "They are supremely effective. But people …