Neuropharmacology of 5-HT3 Receptor Ligands

Gaddum and Picarelli(1957), using the guinea pig ileum, were the first researchers to show that 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) can mediate a neuronal depolarising response and release of acetylcholine. A clarification of the nature and function of the receptor mediating the response to 5-HT has subsequently taken some 40 years. The present chapter reviews the beginnings of a pharmacological understanding of this receptor and the therapeutic implications of drugs which have affinity for it.