Title
Dysfunction in Serotonergic and Noradrenergic Systems and Somatic Symptoms in Psychiatric Disorders
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry
Publication Date
2019-05-21
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Biological Factors | Biological Phenomena, Cell Phenomena, and Immunity | Circulatory and Respiratory Physiology | Mental Disorders | Musculoskeletal, Neural, and Ocular Physiology | Neuroscience and Neurobiology | Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms | Psychiatry | Psychiatry and Psychology
Abstract
Somatic symptoms include a range of physical experiences, such as pain, muscle tension, body shaking, difficulty in breathing, heart palpitation, blushing, fatigue, and sweating. Somatic symptoms are common in major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorders, and some other psychiatric disorders. However, the etiology of somatic symptoms remains unclear. Somatic symptoms could be a response to emotional distress in patients with those psychiatric conditions. Increasing evidence supports the role of aberrant serotoninergic and noradrenergic neurotransmission in somatic symptoms. The physiological alterations underlying diminished serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE) signaling may contribute to impaired signal transduction, reduced 5-HT, or NE release from terminals of presynaptic neurons, and result in alternations in function and/or number of receptors and changes in intracellular signal processing. Multiple resources of data support each of these mechanisms. Animal models have shown physiological responses, similar to somatic symptoms seen in psychiatric patients, after manipulations of 5-HT and NE neurotransmission. Human genetic studies have identified many single-nucleotide polymorphisms risk loci associated with somatic symptoms. Several neuroimaging findings support that somatic symptoms are possibly associated with a state of reduced receptor binding. This narrative literature review aimed to discuss the involvement of serotonergic and noradrenergic systems in the pathophysiology of somatic symptoms. Future research combining neuroimaging techniques and genetic analysis to further elucidate the biological mechanisms of somatic symptoms and to develop novel treatment strategies is needed.
Keywords
mono-aminergic neurotransmitters, norepinephrine (NE), pathophysiology, serotonin (5-HT), somatic symptoms
Rights and Permissions
Copyright © 2019 Liu, Zhao, Fan and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
DOI of Published Version
10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00286
Source
Front Psychiatry. 2019 May 21;10:286. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00286. eCollection 2019. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Frontiers in psychiatry
Related Resources
PubMed ID
31178761
Repository Citation
Liu Y, Zhao J, Fan X, Guo W. (2019). Dysfunction in Serotonergic and Noradrenergic Systems and Somatic Symptoms in Psychiatric Disorders. Open Access Articles. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00286. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/3845
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Biological Factors Commons, Biological Phenomena, Cell Phenomena, and Immunity Commons, Circulatory and Respiratory Physiology Commons, Mental Disorders Commons, Musculoskeletal, Neural, and Ocular Physiology Commons, Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons, Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Commons, Psychiatry Commons