APPETITE SUPPRESSION BY COMMONLY USED DRUGS DEPENDS ON 5-HT RECEPTORSBUT NOT ON 5-HT AVAILABILITY

The widely prescribed appetite suppressants D-fenfluramine and fluoxet ine not only decrease feeding and body weight but also increase extrac ellular brain 5-HT. As central injection of 5-HT also decreases feedin g, the drugs are often thought to require an increase of 5-HT at recep tors in order to exert their hypophagic effect. However, much evidence now suggests that D-fenfluramine and its metabolite D-norfenfluramine can cause hypophagia by acting directly at unspecified 5-HT receptors and at 5-HT2C receptors, respectively, while fluoxetine may act indep endently of 5-HT receptors. These hypophagias may involve interference with the hyperphagic action of neuropeptide Y.