József Knoll (May 30, 1925 – April 17, 2018), or Joseph Knoll, was a Hungarian psychopharmacologist known for developing the

antiparkinsonian In the management of Parkinson's disease, due to the chronic nature of Parkinson's disease (PD), a broad-based program is needed that includes patient and family education, support-group services, general wellness maintenance, exercise, and nutr ...

and

antidepressant Antidepressants are a class of medications used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, and addiction. Common side effects of antidepressants include Xerostomia, dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, headaches, akathi ...

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

selegiline Selegiline, also known as L-deprenyl and sold under the brand names Eldepryl, Zelapar, and Emsam among others, is a medication which is used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and major depressive disorder. It has also been studied and us ...

(L-deprenyl). He developed selegiline in the 1960s and subsequently studied the drug and related agents for many decades. Knoll also developed the concepts of

monoaminergic activity enhancer Monoaminergic activity enhancers (MAE), also known as catecholaminergic/serotonergic activity enhancers (CAE/SAE), are a class of drugs that enhance the action potential-evoked release of monoamine neurotransmitters in the nervous system. MAEs ar ...

s (MAEs) and the mesencephalic enhancer regulation system, among other contributions. MAEs developed by Knoll and colleagues include selegiline,

benzofuranylpropylaminopentane (–)-Benzofuranylpropylaminopentane (BPAP; developmental code name FPFS-1169) is an experimental drug related to selegiline which acts as a monoaminergic activity enhancer (MAE). It is orally active in animals. BPAP is a highly potent MAE ...

(BPAP), and

phenylpropylaminopentane 1-Phenyl-2-propylaminopentane (PPAP), also known as α,''N''-dipropylphenethylamine (DPPEA) and by the developmental code name MK-306, is an experimental drug related to selegiline which acts as a catecholaminergic activity enhancer (CAE). PPA ...

(PPAP), among others. During his scientific career, Knoll published 894papers and was the originator of 55patents. As of 2018, his papers had been cited more than 10,000times. He is described as one of the best-known Hungarian pharmacologists. Knoll is known for having extensively researched and promoted selegiline for claimed

drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

- and

longevity Longevity may refer to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is defined Statistics, statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age. For example, a population's life expectancy at birth ...

-enhancing effects related to its MAE activity. Knoll himself began taking a low 1mg daily dose of selegiline on January 1, 1989 at the age of 64. He reported in 2012 that this had continued for 22years uninterrupted. Knoll stated that he had become so fascinated with the possible longevity-promoting effects of selegiline he was studying that he had decided to start taking it as a self-experiment. Knoll later died in 2018 at the age of 93.

Selected publications

Books

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Reviews

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References

External link

Joseph Knoll Personal Home Page / Curriculum Vitae
1925 births 2018 deaths Hungarian pharmacologists Selegiline {{DEFAULTSORT:Knoll, József