The 5‐HT syndrome in rats as tool for the screening of psychoactive drugs

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Abstract
The use of the behavioral 5‐HT syndrome in rats to characterize psychoactive drugs interacting with the central serotonin system is described. The potentiation of L‐5‐HTP‐induced excitation can be used to detect drugs inhibiting central monoamine oxidase (MAO) A or the 5‐HT uptake system and to define their mechanism of action. In addition to their potency, the biological half‐life of these types of drugs can also be measured. The mechanism of action by which β‐adrenoceptor agonists like salbutamol or clenbuterol potentiate behavioral effects of L‐5‐HTP is discussed. The 5‐HT syndrome is also a convenient behavioral test system to screen for central 5‐HT antagonists and 5‐HT agonists. Different procedures to characterize the 5‐HT specificity of behavioral effects induced by putative 5‐HT agonists are described and their relevance discussed.