High-speed chronoamperometry to study kinetics and mechanisms for serotonin clearance in vivo

Serotonin (5-HT) regulates many complex behaviors and physiological functions. These include mood, sleep, feeding and thermoregulation, to name but a few. As a result, dysregulation of 5-HT neurotransmission can have severe consequences. For example, reduced serotonin neurotransmission is thought to underlie such affective disorders as depression and anxiety (Owens and Nemeroff 1994; Nemeroff and Owens 2004) and predispose to addictive disorders such as alcoholism (McBride et al. 1993; Virkkunen and Linnoila 1997). In addition, the hyperserotonergic state resulting from high doses of substituted amphetamines such as 3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “Ecstasy”) contributes to the “serotonin syndrome,” symptoms of which include agitation, high body temperature, tachycardia, convulsions, coma, and in some cases death (Hegadoren et al. 1999; Green et al. 2003). Given the clear importance of maintaining homeostatic 5-HT neurotransmission, the regulation of extracellular concentration of 5-HT has been the focus of intense study for the past several decades.