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Role of serotonergic system in inflammation
Author(s) -
Fiebich B. L.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.108
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0625
pISSN - 0906-6705
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0625.2006.00439n.x
Subject(s) - serotonergic , tropisetron , inflammation , serotonin , immune system , receptor , 5 ht receptor , biology , tumor necrosis factor alpha , neurotransmitter , pharmacology , endocrinology , medicine , immunology
Serotonin (5‐hydroxytryptamin, 5‐HT) is a peptide originally thought to be mainly produced in the nervous system and functioning as a neurotransmitter. There is increasing evidence that serotonin has an important role in cellular immune response since serotonin is also produced in peripheral cells and due to the fact that more 5‐HT receptors are expressed in immune cells than in neuronal cells. However, the role of serotonin in inflammation is not well understood. There is evidence from both human and animal research that 5‐hydroxytryptamin (5‐HT) 3 receptor antagonists, particularly tropisetron, exert analgesic and anti‐inflammatory activity, and we were therefore interested to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of these effects. We studied the anti‐inflammatory effects of tropisetron and ondansetron in various peripheral cells involved in inflammation. We were able to identify the two major splice variants of the 5‐HT3 receptors, the short A‐isoform and the long B‐isoform in T‐cells and monocytes. We furthermore found tropisetron to be an inhibitor of LPS‐stimulated tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α and interleukin‐(IL‐)1β secretion in monocytes and of IL‐2 expression in T‐cells. Besides the 5‐HT3 receptor, 5‐HT7 seems to be involved in immune regulation, since we found this receptor to mediate serotonin‐induced IL‐6 release in astrocytes. Overall, our data suggest that the serotonergic system plays an import role in peripheral immune function.