Opera Medica et Physiologica

The role of Serotonin Receptors in Alzheimer’s disease

Author Affiliations

Cellular Neurophysiology, Center of Physiology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

Corresponding author: 
Abstract: 

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia with an increasing impact on the aging society. Although generations of researchers tried to unravel the pathomechanisms behind this disease, the molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to its onset and progression are still far from being completely understood. Accordingly, only a symptomatic treatment is available until now, and a curative treatment seems to be far-off. On the other hand, several novel therapeutic strategies have been proposed and debated during the last decade. Because of the extensive serotonergic denervation that has been observed in the AD brain and the important role played by serotonin in both, cognition and behavioural control, this neurotransmitter system has become a focus of a concerted research effort to identify new treatments for AD. Therefore, modulation of defined serotonin receptors by specific ligands represents a promising tool for treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like AD. Here we provide an overview of the involvement of the serotonergic system in AD and discuss the underlying molecular mechanisms. 

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