Perinatal serotonergic activity: A decisive factor in the control of food intake

Abstract

ABSTRACT The serotoninergic system controls key events related to proper nervous system development. The neurotransmitter serotonin and the serotonin transporter are critical for this control. Availability of these components is minutely regulated during the development period, and the environment may affect their action on the nervous system. Environmental factors such as undernutrition and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may increase the availability of serotonin in the synaptic cleft and change its anorectic action. The physiological responses promoted by serotonin on intake control decrease when requested by acute stimuli or stress, demonstrating that animals or individuals develop adaptations in response to the environmental insults they experience during the development period. Diseases, such as anxiety and obesity, appear to be associated with the body’s response to stress or stimulus, and require greater serotonergic system action. These findings demonstrate the importance of the level of serotonin in the perinatal period to the development of molecular and morphological aspects of food intake control, and its decisive role in understanding the possible environmental factors that cause diseases in adulthood.