Anorexigen-induced pulmonary hypertension and the serotonin (5-HT) hypothesis: lessons for the future in pathogenesis

Description

Epidemiological studies have established that fenfluramine, D-fenfluramine, and aminorex, but not other appetite suppressants, increase the risk of primary pulmonary hypertension (PH). One current hypothesis suggests that fenfluramine-like medications may act through interactions with the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) transporter (5-HTT) located on pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells and responsible for the mitogenic action of 5-HT. Anorexigens may contribute to PH by boosting 5-HT levels in the bloodstream, directly stimulating smooth muscle cell growth, or altering 5-HTT expression. We suggest that individuals with a high basal level of 5-HTT expression related to the presence of the long 5-HTT gene promoter variant may be particularly susceptible to one or more of these potential mechanisms of appetite-suppressant-related PH.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
21 Visit the original government dataset for complete information, documentation, and data access. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC64820/

Tags

  • anorexigen-induced
  • nih
  • fenfluramine
  • serotonin-transporter
  • pulmonary-hypertension

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