SEROTONIN AND SCHIZOPHRENIA - A REVIEW

Two observations initiated the interest in the role of serotonin in sc hizophrenia: the structural similarity between LSD and serotonin and t he LSD-induced psychosis. This interest was later reinforced by the ad vent of atypical neuroleptics which, among other mechanisms of action, possess a potent 5-HT2 antagonism. We review in this paper the clinic al evidence for a serotonin dysfunction in schizophrenia, including CS F and postmortem studies of serotoninergic markers, results of pharmac ological challenge studies, and the use of 5-HT2 antagonists in the tr eatment of the disease. We attempt to integrate the different observat ions of abnormal serotonin indices within the context of what is known about the interactions between the serotoninergic and the dopaminergi c systems. We propose a model which takes into account the suggestion of a cortical serotoninergic hypofunction and a beneficial effect of 5 -HT2 antagonism via modulation of subcortical DA activity.