Serotonin overview

There are numerous transmitter substances. They include the amino acids glutamate, GABA and glycine acetylcholine the monoamines dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin the neuropeptides ATP and NO. Many neurones use not a single transmitter but two or even more, a phenomenon called cotransmission. Chemical synaptic transmission hence is diversified. The basic steps, however, are similar across all neurones, irrespective of their transmitter, with the exception of NO transmitter production and vesicular storage transmitter release postsynaptic receptor activation and transmitter inactivation. Figure 1 shows an overview. Nitrergic transmission, i.e. transmission by NO, differs from transmission by other transmitters and is not covered in this essay. 

Murphy, D.L., Andrews, A.M., Wichems, C.H., Li, Q., Tohda, M., and Greenberg, B. (1998) Brain serotonin neurotransmission an overview and update with an emphasis on serotonin subsystem heterogeneity, multiple receptors, interactions with other neurotransmitter systems, and consequent implications for understanding the actions of serotonergic drugs. J Clin Psychiatry 59 5uppl 15 4-12. 

Preskorn, S.H. (1997) Clinically relevant pharmacology of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. An overview with emphasis on pharmacokinetics and effects on oxidative drug metabolism. Clin Pharmacokinet 32 1-21. 

OVERVIEW OF SELEaiVE SEROTONIN REUPTAKE INHIBITOR MEDICATIONS IN CHILD PSYCHIATRY... 

Coplan JD, Gorman JM, Klein DF Serotonin-related function in panic disorder a critical overview. Neuropsychopharmacology 6(3) 189-200, 1992c... 

Murasaki M Overview of serotonin lA receptor selective agents in anxiety disorders— the developmental situation in Japan. International Review of Psychiatry 7 105-113, 1995... 

Ohouha DC, Hyde TM, Kleinman JE The role of serotonin in schizophrenia an overview of the nomenclature, distribution and alterations of serotonin receptors in the central nervous system. Psychopharmacology 112 S5-S15, 1993... 

Boyer W, Feighner J. An overview of fluoxetine, a new serotonin-specific antidepressant. Mt Sinai J Med 1989 56 136-140. 

Rickels K, Schweizer E. Clinical overview of serotonin reuptake inhibitors. J din Psychiatry 1990 51[Suppl 12B] 9-12. 

To gain an overview of the biological basis of anxiety emphasizing the role of serotonin. 

Committee on Safety of Medicines. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) overview of regulatory status and CSM advice relating to major depressive disorder (MDD) in children and adolescents including a summary of available safety and efficacy data. http /medicines.mh-ra.gov.uk/ourwork/monitorsafequalmed/safetymessages/ ssrioverview 101203.htm, updated 8.10.2004. 

Peters, J. C., Tryptophan nutrition and metabolism An overview, in Kynurenine and Serotonin Pathways, Schwartz, R. et al., Eds., Plenum Press, New York, 1991, 345-358. 

The book is the result of the efforts of an international group of authors to produce an overview of the progress made in the medicinal chemistry of compounds (selectively) acting at serotonin receptors or serotonin transporters either as agonists, partial agonists or antagonists. 

The oxidation of tryptophan yields serotine, decarboxylation gives tryptamine, the oxidation of which leads to the hormone sero-tonine, from serotonine arises N-acetylserotonine (by the action of N-acetyltransferase), which is the precursor of hormone melatonin, which arises by the action of hydroxyindol-O-methyltransferase (Figure 10.18). An overview of biogenic amines occurring in foods, their preciusors, biological activities and the main products of their transformation is shown in Table 10.22. 

Note however that histamine is a non-volatile amine and hence recourse is to explore in solution and apply an extraction protocol (such as liquid-liquid extraction) from the sample matrix. Electrochemical approaches have involved the use of boron-doped diamond electrodes which are reported to be superior to GC electrodes due to diamond s higher sensitivity, stability and reproducibility.Diamond is demonstrated to be the best electrode material for the detection of histamine, possessing high sensitivity, even at high oxidation potentials, and for the detection of serotonin, which fouls other electrodes such as GC after oxidation. High stability and remarkable detection limits for the determination of histamine (with serotonin also explored) via amperometry are reported to be possible.Table 16.3 provides a thorough overview of the electrochemical approaches for sensing histamine. 

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