CONTEXT Previous studies have shown that women with anorexia nervosa (AN), when ill and after recovery, have alterations of serotonin (5-HT) neuronal activity and core eating disorder symptoms, such as anxiety. OBJECTIVE To further characterize the 5-HT system in AN, we investigated 5-HT1A receptor activity using positron emission tomography imaging because this receptor is implicated in anxi...

The spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and Lewis (LEW) strains differ in numerous behavioral tests, including the elevated plus-maze. In keeping with the crucial role of central serotonin (5-HT) in anxiety, we checked for strain differences regarding several determinants of 5-HT activity. In addition to confirming that LEW rats displayed anxious behaviors in the plus-maze compared with SHR, we fo...

The aim of this work was to improve the oral bioavailability of a recently discovered, novel structural class of 5-HT1A receptor agonists: aryl-{[4-(6-R-pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-amino]-methyl}-piperidin-1 -yl-metha none. Incorporation of a fluorine atom in the beta-position to the amino function in the side chain led to analogues that exhibited, in general, enhanced and long-lasting 5-HT1A agonist a...

USING A NOVEL OPTOGENETIC APPROACH TO DIRECTLY ASSESS 5-HT1ASOMATODENDRITIC AUTORECEPTOR FUNCTION IN RESPONSE TO CHRONICSELECTIVE SEROTONIN REUPTAKE INHIBITOR TREATMENTbyKELLY MARIE MCGREGORAugust 2015Advisor: Dr. Rodrigo Andrade Major: Pharmacology (Molecular Neuropharmacology)Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Antidepressant drugs are widely used but their mechanism of a...

Both orexin and serotonin (5-HT) have important roles in the regulation of sleep-wakefulness, as well as in feeding behavior. We examined the effects of 5-HT on orexin/hypocretin neurons, using hypothalamic slices prepared from orexin/enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) transgenic mice in which EGFP is expressed exclusively in orexin neurons. Patch-clamp recording from EGFP-expressing cel...

Serotonin (5-HT) neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) are implicated in mediating learned helplessness (LH) behaviors, such as poor escape responding and expression of exaggerated conditioned fear, induced by acute exposure to uncontrollable stress. DRN 5-HT neurons are hyperactive during uncontrollable stress, resulting in desensitization of 5-HT type 1A (5-HT1A) inhibitory autoreceptors ...

Several novel N-arylpiperazine derivatives were synthesized and tested for their 1) affinity and functional activity on 5-hydroxytryptamine1A (5-HT1A) receptors in vitro; 2) activity in models predictive of antagonism at somatodendritic and postsynaptic 5-HT1A receptors; and 3) effects on the micturition reflex in anesthetized and conscious rats. These studies also included 1-(2-methoxyphenyl)-...

The atypical antipsychotic drug aripiprazole (ARI) shows high in vitro affinity for 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A and dopamine (DA) D2 receptors. In the present study we examined the in vivo actions of ARI in he rat and mouse brain using single unit recordings and microdialysis. The systemic administration of ARI reduced 5-HT release in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and dorsal raphe nucleus of the rat. ...