Although serotonergic neurons are not found below the site of injury to the adult spinal cord, constitutive activity of 5-HT receptors may play a role following such a lesion— administration of 5-HT2 blockers appears to reduce skeletal muscle spasm following this type of injury.
2. Respiratory system—Serotonin has a small direct stimulant effect on bronchiolar smooth muscle in normal humans, probably via 5-HT2A receptors. It also appears to facilitate acetylcholine release from bronchial vagal nerve endings. In patients with carcinoid syndrome, episodes of bronchoconstriction occur in response to elevated levels of the amine or peptides released from the tumor. Serotonin may also cause hyperventilation as a result of the chemoreceptor reflex or stimulation of bronchial sensory nerve endings.
3. Cardiovascular system—Serotonin directly causes the contraction of vascular smooth muscle, mainly through 5-HT2 receptors. In humans, serotonin is a powerful vasoconstrictor except in skeletal muscle and the heart, where it dilates blood vessels.
At least part of the 5-HT-induced vasodilation requires the presence of vascular endothelial cells. When the endothelium is damaged, coronary vessels are constricted by 5-HT. As noted previously, serotonin can also elicit reflex bradycardia by activation of 5-HT3 receptors on chemoreceptor nerve endings. A triphasic blood pressure response is often seen following injection of serotonin in experimental animals. Initially, there is a decrease in heart rate, cardiac output, and blood pressure caused by the chemoreceptor response. After this decrease, blood pressure increases as a result of vasoconstriction. The third phase is again a decrease in blood pressure attributed to vasodilation in vessels supplying skeletal muscle. In contrast, pulmonary and renal vessels seem very sensitive to the vasoconstrictor action of serotonin.
Studies in knockout mice suggest that 5-HT, acting on 5-HT1A, 5-HT2, and 5-HT4 receptors, is needed for normal cardiac development in the fetus. On the other hand, chronic exposure of adults to 5-HT2B agonists is associated with valvulopathy and adult mice lacking the 5-HT2B receptor gene are protected from cardiac hypertrophy. Preliminary studies suggest that 5-HT2B antagonists can prevent development of pulmonary hypertension in animal models.
animal models, many of the signs of the syndrome can be reversed by administration of 5-HT2 antagonists; however, other 5-HT receptors may be involved as well. Dantrolene is of no value, unlike the treatment of MH. NMS is idiosyncratic rather than predictable and appears to be associated with hypersensitivity to the parkinsonism-inducing effects of D2-blocking antipsychotics in certain individuals. MH is associated with a genetic defect in the RyR1 calcium channel of skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum that permits uncontrolled calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum when precipitat-ing drugs are given (see Chapter 27). Excess synaptic serotonin causes a serious, potentially fatal syn-drome that is diagnosed on the basis of a history of administration of a serotonergic drug within recent weeks and physical findings. It has some characteristics in common with neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) and malignant hyperthermia (MH), but its patho-physiology and management are quite different (Table 16–4). As suggested by the drugs that precipitate it, serotonin syndrome occurs when overdose with a single drug, or concur-rent use of several drugs, results in excess serotonergic activity in the central nervous system. It is predictable and not idiosyncratic, but milder forms may easily be misdiagnosed. In experimental