Serotonin molecular model. Carbon: lilac, Oxygen: red, Nitrogen: blue, Hydrogen: aqua.
Serotonin molecular model. Carbon: lilac, Oxygen: red, Nitrogen: blue, Hydrogen: aqua. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter synthesised in serotonergic neurons in the central nervous system and enterochromaffin cells in the gastrointestinal tract. In the central nervous system, serotonin is believed to play an important role in the regulation of mood, sleep, emesis (vomiting), sexuality and appetite. Serotonin has been thought to play a part in many disorders, notably as part of the biochemistry of depression, migraine, bipolar disorder and anxiety. Recent research suggests that serotonin also plays an important role in liver regeneration and acts as a mitogen (induces cell division) throughout the body. Serotonin is found extensively in the human gastrointestinal tract and in the blood stream. Serotonin taken orally does not pass into the serotonergic pathways of the central nervous system because it does not cross the blood-brain barrier. Tryptophan and its metabolite 5-hydroxytryptophan, from which serotonin is synthesized, crosses the blood-brain barrier. Serotonin and its degradation product 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid are produced in excessive amounts by some cancer tumours, and levels of these substances may be measured in the urine to test for these tumours.
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Photo credit: © Mediscan / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: -, 5-hydroxytryptamine, cancer, cells, central, cns, enterochromaffin, health, healthcare, marker, medical, medicine, model, molecular, monoamine, nervous, neurotransmitter, serotonin, system, tryptophan
