16,17 Among the large variety of chemical messengers acting in nerve cell signaling, 5-HT is the focus of much interest due to its implication in almost every physiological function (eating, reward, thermoregulation, cardiovascular regulation, locomotion, pain, reproduction, sleepwake cycle, memory, cognition, aggressiveness, responses to stressors,

emotion, and mood) and in several human pathologies. Thus, dysfunction Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the serotonergic AZD1480 molecular weight systems is thought to be associated with irritable bowel syndrome,18 restless legs syndrome,19 sudden infant death syndrome,20,21 autism,22 headache,23 insomnia,24 anxiety,25 depression,26 anorexia,27,28 schizophrenia,29 Parkinson’s disease,30 and Alzheimer’s disease.31,32 At the present time, most of the anxiolytic/antidepressant compounds such as tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs),33,34 azapirones,35 setron antiemetics,36

and triptans used to relieve migraine,37 all target the serotonergic systems. Besides a well-known Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical dopaminergic component, atypical neuroleptics (eg, olanzapine, clozapine, quetiapine, aripiprazole) interact with serotonergic receptors (ie, 5-HT1A, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical 5-HT2A-2C, 5-HT6 and 5-HT7).38-40 Finally, psychotropic drugs including LSD, mescaline, cocaine, and amphetamines powerfully alter 5-HT functions via 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A receptors41,42 and monoaminergic transporters.43-45 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical 5-HT is massively synthesized in the gastrointestinal

tract (mainly in enterochromafin cells), whereas only a small percentage is produced within the nervous system.46,47 There is some evidence that 5-HT synthesis, release by calcium-dependent exocytosis, selective reuptake by an energy-dependent membrane transporter, metabolism and reuptake in vesicles operate in all the neuronal elements of the 5-HT neurons (ie, soma, dendrites, axons, and terminals), together participating in 5-HT homeostasis.48,49 The widespread distribution of 5-HT axons and terminals Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical throughout the neuraxis (Figure TCL 1), the frequent nonsynaptic neurotransmission (called diffuse or volume neurotransmission 48,50-52), as well as the abundance of 5-HT receptors (Table I) contribute to explaining the complex relationships between 5-HT and other neurotransmitter and neurohormonal systems. Figure 1. Schematic sagittal view of the human brain showing the distribution of the serotonergic systems. The raphe nuclei containing the majority of the serotonergic cell bodies appear in purple. It is readily seen that these nuclei are exclusively located in … Table I Table I. Serotonin (5-HT) receptors in the human brain: distribution, putative functions, and related pathologies. Pre-RNA *splicing and ° editing variants. For review see also refs 98 to100. X, dorsal motor n of the vagus nerve; ACN, accumbens …