Since the 1950s, when serotonin (5-HT) was discovered in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), an enormous amount of experimental evidence has revealed the pivotal role of this biogenic amine in a number of cognitive and behavioural functions. Although 5-HT is synthesized by a small group of neurons within the raphe nuclei of the brain stem, almost all parts of the CNS receive serotonergic projections. Furthermore, the importance of 5-HT modulation and the fine-tuning of its action is underlined by the large number of 5-HT binding sites found in the CNS. Hitherto, up to 15 different 5-HT receptors subtypes have been identified. This review was undertaken to summarize the work that has explored the pathophysiological role of one of these receptors, the 5-HT 2C receptor, that has been emerged as a prominent central serotonin receptor subtype. The physiology, pharmacology and anatomical distribution of the 5-HT 2C receptors in the CNS will be firstly reviewed. Finally, their potential involvement in the pathophysiology of depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and drug abuse will be also discussed.Keywords: Serotonergic receptors, Depression, Schizophrenia, Drug of abuse, selective 5-HT 2C drugs.
BASIC ANATOMY OF 5-HT SYSTEMMore than fifty years have passed since Twarog and Page [1] isolated an indole, identified as serotonin (5-HT), in the mammalian brain. Subsequently, Brodie and colleagues [2] suggested that 5-HT might serve as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS). The result was one of the most important discoveries in science, giving birth to a new branch of neuroscience [3]. Serotonin is one of the oldest biologically active compound on earth, found in a variety of plants and animals. In vertebrates, the majority of the neurons containing 5-HT are grouped in 9 nuclei named B1 to B9, located in the medial part of the brainstem, generically called the raphe nuclei [4] (Fig. 1). These midline clusters can be divided into two major groups. The caudal or inferior group, localized in the medulla, contains the three nuclei projecting essentially to the grey matter of the spinal cord: the nucleus raphe magnus (NRM, cell group B5), nucleus raphe obscurus (NRO, cell groups B1-B2-B3), and nucleus raphe pallidus (NRP, cell group B4). The rostral or superior group, situated in the pons/mesenchephalon, contains the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN, cell groups B6 and B7) and the median raphe nucleus (MRN, cell group B8). These nuclei supply about 80% of the serotonergic innervation of the forebrain. Even if in many brain areas, the innervation coming from the two nuclei overlaps, in certain regions the innervation comes exclusively or prevalently from one nucleus only. For example, the dorsal hippocampus receives a serotonergic innervation only from MRN, other areas innervated preferentially from this nucleus are: the medial preoptic area, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the olfactory bulb *Address correspondence to this author at the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Consor...