Anorexigen-induced pulmonary hypertension and the serotonin (5-HT) hypothesis: lessons for the future in pathogenesis
Epidemiological studies have established that fenfluramine, D-fenfluramine, and aminorex, but not other appetite suppressants, increase the risk of primary pulmonary hypertension (PH). One current hypothesis suggests that fenfluramine-like medications may act through interactions with the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) transporter (5-HTT) located on pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells and responsible for the mitogenic action of 5-HT. Anorexigens may contribute to PH by boosting 5-HT levels in the bloodstream, directly stimulating smooth muscle cell growth, or altering 5-HTT expression. We suggest that individuals with a high basal level of 5-HTT expression related to the presence of the long 5-HTT gene promoter variant may be particularly susceptible to one or more of these potential mechanisms of appetite-suppressant-related PH.
Complete Metadata
| @type | dcat:Dataset |
|---|---|
| accessLevel | public |
| bureauCode |
[
"009:25"
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|
| contactPoint |
{
"fn": "NIH",
"@type": "vcard:Contact",
"hasEmail": "mailto:info@nih.gov"
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|
| description | Epidemiological studies have established that fenfluramine, D-fenfluramine, and aminorex, but not other appetite suppressants, increase the risk of primary pulmonary hypertension (PH). One current hypothesis suggests that fenfluramine-like medications may act through interactions with the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) transporter (5-HTT) located on pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells and responsible for the mitogenic action of 5-HT. Anorexigens may contribute to PH by boosting 5-HT levels in the bloodstream, directly stimulating smooth muscle cell growth, or altering 5-HTT expression. We suggest that individuals with a high basal level of 5-HTT expression related to the presence of the long 5-HTT gene promoter variant may be particularly susceptible to one or more of these potential mechanisms of appetite-suppressant-related PH. |
| distribution |
[
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Official Government Data Source",
"mediaType": "text/html",
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"downloadURL": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC64820/"
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|
| identifier | https://healthdata.gov/api/views/h58z-98x2 |
| issued | 2025-07-14 |
| keyword |
[
"anorexigen-induced",
"fenfluramine",
"nih",
"pulmonary-hypertension",
"serotonin-transporter"
]
|
| landingPage | https://healthdata.gov/d/h58z-98x2 |
| modified | 2025-09-06 |
| programCode |
[
"009:037"
]
|
| publisher |
{
"name": "National Institutes of Health",
"@type": "org:Organization"
}
|
| theme |
[
"NIH"
]
|
| title | Anorexigen-induced pulmonary hypertension and the serotonin (5-HT) hypothesis: lessons for the future in pathogenesis |
