Serotonin in Neurological Diseases

Abstract

Serotonin (5-HT) is responsible for anxiety, aggression, and stress. Alterations in a serotonergic system play a significant role in pathogenesis of neurological diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. A wide range of disturbances associated with seroto- nergic neurotransmission results from different functions of 5-HT in a nervous system. It is believed that 5-HT may be involved in the pathogenesis of migraine, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In these diseases, disturbances of 5-HT and its metabolites, such as 5-hydroxyindoleace- tic acid (5-HIAA), were observed in the plasma, blood platelets, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Changes in the level of this biogenic amine (5-HT) may be associated with mal- function of 5-HT receptors, reuptake transporter for 5-HT (5-HTT, SERT), the enzymes responsible for the synthesis and metabolism of 5-HT, and genetic variants for sero- tonergic system. It seems that 5-HT and its metabolites may be used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for neurological diseases or a target for more efficient therapy in neurology in the future.