A study of the role of serotonin in the anxiolytic effect of nitrous oxide in rodents.
Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior June 1, 2006 Dimitris E Emmanouil, Z Papadopoulou-Daifoti, Philip T Hagihara et al.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) exposure in rats altered serotonin (5-HT) turnover in specific brain regions: increased turnover in the hypothalamus, decreased turnover in the frontal cortex, and no changes in the hippocampus or corpus striatum. Dopamine turnover remained unchanged. In mice, pretreatment with the 5-HT2 antagonist cinanserin, the 5-HT3 antagonist LY-278,584, or the serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine did not appreciably affect N2O-induced increases in time spent in the light compartment of a light/dark exploration test, though cinanserin significantly reduced N2O-induced increases in transitions. These results indicate that while N2O influences brain serotonin function, 5-HT2 or 5-HT3 receptors or serotonin reuptake do not mediate its anxiolytic-like behavioral effects.