Serotonin releasing agent

A serotonin releasing agent (SRA) is a type of drug that induces the release of serotonin into the neuronal synaptic cleft. A selective serotonin releasing agent (SSRA) is an SRA with less significant or no efficacy in producing neurotransmitter efflux at other types of monoamine neurons, including dopamine and norepinephrine neurons.[1]

A closely related type of drug is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI), for instance fluoxetine. However, SRAs achieve much greater increases in serotonin levels than SRIs and have far more robust of subjective effects.[2][3][4][5]

SRAs, for instance fenfluramine, have been used clinically as appetite suppressants. In addition, SSRAs have been proposed as novel antidepressants and anxiolytics, with the potential for a faster onset of action and superior effectiveness relative to the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).[3][6]

  1. ^ Marona-Lewicka D, Nichols DE (June 1994). "Behavioral effects of the highly selective serotonin releasing agent 5-methoxy-6-methyl-2-aminoindan". European Journal of Pharmacology. 258 (1–2): 1–13. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.688.1895. doi:10.1016/0014-2999(94)90051-5. PMID 7925587.
  2. ^ Rothman RB, Baumann MH (2006). "Therapeutic potential of monoamine transporter substrates". Curr Top Med Chem. 6 (17): 1845–1859. doi:10.2174/156802606778249766. PMID 17017961.
  3. ^ a b Scorza C, Silveira R, Nichols DE, Reyes-Parada M (July 1999). "Effects of 5-HT-releasing agents on the extracellullar hippocampal 5-HT of rats. Implications for the development of novel antidepressants with a short onset of action". Neuropharmacology. 38 (7): 1055–1061. doi:10.1016/S0028-3908(99)00023-4. PMID 10428424. S2CID 13714807.
  4. ^ Marona-Lewicka D, Nichols DE (December 1997). "The Effect of Selective Serotonin Releasing Agents in the Chronic Mild Stress Model of Depression in Rats". Stress. 2 (2): 91–100. doi:10.3109/10253899709014740. PMID 9787258.
  5. ^ Marona-Lewicka D, Nichols DE (July 1998). "Drug discrimination studies of the interoceptive cues produced by selective serotonin uptake inhibitors and selective serotonin releasing agents". Psychopharmacology (Berl). 138 (1): 67–75. doi:10.1007/s002130050646. PMID 9694528.
  6. ^ Nichols DE, Marona-Lewicka D, Huang X, Johnson MP (1993). "Novel serotonergic agents". Drug Des Discov. 9 (3–4): 299–312. PMID 8400010.