Synonyms
Serotonin = 5‐Hydroxytryptamine = 5‐HT (= enteramine)
Definition
The serotoninergic system is one of the oldest neurotransmitter/hormone systems in evolution, which may explain why 5‐HT interacts with such a diversity of receptors of the G protein‐coupled family and the ligand‐gated family, similarly to acetylcholine, GABA or glutamate. 5‐HT was discovered in the gut in the 1930s and called enteramine, then rediscovered in the 1940s in the blood and called serotonin, since it constricted smooth muscle in vessels and gut. 5‐HT is synthesized from l‐tryptophan, there are two tryptophan hydroxylases forming 5‐hydroxytrytophan (5‐HTP), which by the l‐amino acid decarboxylase leads to 5‐HT; serotonin can be conjugated with glucuronide or sulfate or in the nervous system, metabolized via monoamine oxydase to 5‐hydroxyindolacetaldehyde and finally to 5‐hydroxyindolacetic acid (via aldehydedehydrogenase). It can also lead to 5‐hydroxytryptophol by an aldehydereductase in some...
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References
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© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York
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Hoyer, D. (2008). Serotoninergic System. In: Offermanns, S., Rosenthal, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Molecular Pharmacology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-38918-7_134
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-38918-7_134
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