GC: n
S: MNT – http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/kc/serotonin-facts-232248 (last access: 11 November 2016); Healthline Reference Library – http://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/foods-that-could-boost-your-serotonin (last access: 11 November 2016).
N: 1.1948, coined from sero-, comb. form of serum (q.v.) + ton(ic) + chemical suffix -in.
Chemical formula: C10H12N2O.
2. A chemical, 5-hydrozytryptamine (5-HT), present in blood platelets, the gastrointestinal tract, and certain regions of the brain.
3. Serotonin acts as a neurotransmitter, a type of chemical that helps relay signals from one area of the brain to another. Although serotonin is manufactured in the brain, where it performs its primary functions, some 90% of our serotonin supply is found in the digestive tract and in blood platelets.
3. The essential contribution of the antidepressant-sensitive serotonin (5-HT) transporter SERT (which is encoded by the SLC6A4 gene) to platelet 5-HT stores suggests an important role of this transporter in platelet function.
4. Pharmacologic strategies are not the only ones worthy of study when devising strategies to increase brain serotonin function. The effect of nonpharmacologic interventions on brain serotonin and the implications of increased serotonin for mood and behaviour need to be studied more. The amount of money and effort put into research on drugs that alter serotonin is very much greater than that put into non-pharmacologic methods. The magnitude of the discrepancy is probably neither in tune with the wishes of the public nor optimal for progress in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders.
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=serotonin (last access: 11 November 2016); TERMIUM PLUS – https://goo.gl/wR5Db0 (last access: 11 November 2016). 2. TERMIUM PLUS – https://goo.gl/wR5Db0 (last access: 11 November 2016). 3. WebMD – http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/serotonin#1 (last access:11 November 2016 ). 3. NCBI –https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18317590; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2077351/ (last access: 11 November 2016).
SYN: 5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT, enteramine, thrombocytin, thrombotonin, 3-(2-aminoethyl)-5-indolol.
S: TERMIUM PLUS – https://goo.gl/wR5Db0 (last access: 11 November 2016)
CR: amino acid, melatonin, tumor.
