The 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A/2C receptor antagonists WAY-100635 and ritanserin do not attenuate D-fenfluramine-induced fos expression in the brain.
D-Fenfluramine is a serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) releaser and reuptake inhibitor. It is used to study the neurochemical control of feeding and has been used to treat obesity. It has also been employed as a pharmacological tool to study changes in serotonergic function in psychiatric patients. Brain sites activated by D-fenfluramine via the release of 5-HT have been mapped via the expression of the immediate early gene c-fos. Studies in our laboratory have indicated that D-fenfluramine induces Fos in the hypothalamus and cortex through 5-HT release. The present study investigated whether 5-HT released by D-fenfluramine induces Fos expression in the brain by activating 5-HT1A or 5-HT2A/2C receptors. Rats were pretreated either with WAY-100635, a 5-HT1A antagonist, or ritanserin, a 5-HT2A/2C antagonist, prior to d-fenfluramine injection. Blockade of either 5-HT1A or 5-HT2A/2C receptors was not sufficient to suppress the Fos response to D-fenfluramine in any region of the brain examined, including the cingulate cortex, frontal cortex, caudate-putamen, paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, amygdala, and brainstem. These results indicate that Fos response elicited by D-fenfluramine may be mediated by other receptors, in addition to the 5-HT1A or 5-HT2A/2C receptors.
Javed
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Neuroscience Program, Loyola University of Chicago School of Medicine, Maywood, IL 60153, USA.
Van de Kar
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Gray
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D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D005277:Fenfluramine / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D010879:Piperazines / Q000494:pharmacology; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin / Q000502:physiology; D016713:Ritanserin / Q000494:pharmacology; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*
D005277:Fenfluramine; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D010879:Piperazines; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D011725:Pyridines; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin; D016713:Ritanserin; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; C090413:N-(2-(4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl)ethyl)-N-(2-pyridinyl)cyclohexanecarboxamide