title: Involvement of 5-HT2A receptors in the serotonin (5-HT) syndrome caused by excessive 5-HT efflux in rat brain.
abstract: Previous studies have demonstrated that serotonin (5-HT) syndromes, particularly for the malignant cases, can be alleviated by ice water mists, cooling blankets and many other external cooling measures. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that external cooling measures reduce the responsivity of 5-HT(2A) receptors to excessive 5-HT efflux, which may be a possible mechanism underlying the treatment of serotonin syndrome. To test this, rat experiments were carried out in the standard and cool ambient temperature (T(amb) ) by administration of the 5-HT precursor 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan combined with the monoamine oxidase inhibitor clorgyline. The first set of experiments was to assess severity of the syndromes by measuring body temperature responses. Consistent with the hypothesis, we found that the syndrome was malignant at the standard T(amb) of 22°C but alleviated at 12 or 6°C, these results being similar to those in rats pre-treated with the 5-HT(2A) receptor antagonist ketanserin. The second set of experiments was to utilize microdialysis to determine the relationship between the syndrome severity and 5-HT levels at the above-mentioned T(amb) . We found that excessive 5-HT efflux consisted of primary and secondary components through two distinct mechanisms. Furthermore, the secondary component efflux, which can be ascribed to 5-HT(2A) receptor activation, was proportionally reduced at the cool T(amb) of 12 and 6°C. In conclusion, results of this study support the hypothesis that cooling T(amb) reduces the functional activity of 5-HT(2A) receptors, thus alleviating the malignant syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Swapna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnamoorthy
authors.forename: Zhiyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Gongliang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jianning
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Sidney B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Auerbach
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tao
mesh_terms: D006916:5-Hydroxytryptophan / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D003010:Clorgyline / Q000494:pharmacology; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced; D007650:Ketanserin / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D017551:Microdialysis; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A / Q000502:physiology*; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D058830:Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020230:Serotonin Syndrome / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A; D058830:Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists; D012701:Serotonin; D007650:Ketanserin; D006916:5-Hydroxytryptophan; D003010:Clorgyline