The Effect of Methylene Blue and Its Metabolite—Azure I—on Bioenergetic Parameters of Intact Mouse Brain Mitochondria

Abstract—

Methylene blue, a phenothiazine dye, that is widely used in medicine and is under clinical trials as an agent for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. One of the factors of the unique therapeutic effect of methylene blue is its redox properties, allowing implementation of alternative electron transport: the dye accepts electrons from reducing equivalents in mitochondria and transfer them to other components of the respiratory chain or molecular oxygen. Azure I, an N-dimethylated metabolite of methylene blue, is potentially a more effective compound than methylene blue, but its ability for alternative electron transport has not been studied yet. We have shown that in contrast to methylene blue, azure I is unable to restore the membrane potential in isolated mouse brain mitochondria, inhibited by rotenone and, therefore, is unable to perform bypass of the respiratory chain complex I. Moreover, addition of azure I does not affect the rate of mitochondrial respiration in contrast to methylene blue, which increases the rate of non-phosphorylation respiration. At the same time, both dyes stimulate an increase in H₂O₂ production. Thus, only methylene blue is capable of alternative electron transport, while azure I does not produce complex I bypass. This limits its therapeutic application only as a mitochondrial-targeted agent, but does not question its antidepressant effects.