Agmatine Enhances Dorsal Raphe Serotonergic Neuronal Activity via Dual Regulation of 5-HT_1B and 5-HT_2A Receptors.

ABSTRACT: Agmatine is a naturally occurring biogenic amine that acts primarily as an inhibitor of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). Previous studies have shown that both acute and chronic agmatine administration induced anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects in rodents. In the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), nitric oxide (NO) donors inhibit serotonergic (5-HT) neuronal activity, with the nNOS-expressing 5-HT neurons showing lower baseline firing rates than the non-nNOS expressing neurons. Our study aimed to test the hypothesis that the psychoactive effects of agmatine are mediated, at least in part, via a mechanism involving the stimulation of the DRN 5-HT neurons, as well as to assess the molecular pathway allowing agmatine to modulate the excitability of 5-HT neurons. Using extracellular in v

SUBMITTER: Ozbasak H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11988524 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature