Functional Correlates of Serotonin 5-HT₁ Recognition Sites

Abstract

A short overview is given of the evidence supporting the existence of subtypes of 5-HT₁ receptors. As 5-HT₁ receptors were first described using radioligand binding studies, a brief description of 5-HT_1A, 5-HT_1B, 5-HT_1C and 5-HT_1D receptor binding is given. Then, recent data obtained in biochemical, electrophysiological, behavioural and other functional studies is compared to results obtained in radioligand binding studies. The paper shows that functional correlates do indeed exist for subtypes of 5-HT₁ recognition sites; moreover, these are markedly different from the effects mediated by 5-HT₂ (5-HT D) or 5-HT₃ (5-HT M) receptors.