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Mansour TE. 
“Biochemical Effects of Psychopharmacological Agents”. 
Psychopharmacol.Bull.. 1979;15(3):79-80.
Abstract
The biochemical effects of psychopharmacological agents were studied. Serotonin (S) caused accumulation of endogenous cAMP and stimulated motility in the liver fluke. S and indolamine analogs activated adenylate cyclase (AC) in particulate preparations. In intact animals, LSD stimulated motility and activated AC but did not increase endogenous cAMP. It antagonized the S activation of AC in particles and in intact organisms. The kinetics of this enzyme suggested a single class of receptors for ATP, S. and LSD. Activation by S and LSD was dependent on GTP. S activated cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity in the liver fluke. The activation, was antagonized by LSD. In studies of phosphodiesterase in the fluke, several substances were identified which inhibited enzyme activity and also stimulated motility. A higher phosphodiesterase inhibitory potency was associated with greater neuromuscular stimulation. The only exception to this was LSD, which was 1 of the poorest phosphodiesterase inhibitors, but which caused neuromuscular stimulation at very low concentration. A relationship between physiological effects and endogenous cAMP was not noted - the compounds tested did not raise steady-state levels of cAMP in intact organisms or in fluke heads. S increased the rate of Ca++ efflux and endogenous cAMP in the abalone gill, suggesting that both Ca++ and cAMP act as 2nd messengers in response to S and dopamine. Reduced glutathione activated adenylate cyclase and also elicited the ciliary swallowing response in the sea anemone. Chemoreception for the swallowing response in this organism was mediated by cAMP's control of Ca distribution in the cell. In studies of chemotaxis in the slime mold, some carbohydrates and amino acids that are not of nutritional value were potent chemotactic agents. The chemotactic effect was dependent on a gradient of attractant. cAMP and some phosphodiesterase inhibitors were attractants in this process. Starvation increased chemotactic responsiveness and motility, and it also increased AC activity in the slime mold. Activity of this enzyme was controlled by its own product, cAMP. Thermotaxis in the slime mold showed that 29¡ was the best attractant.
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