SEROTONIN AND SEROTONIN DERIVATIVES: NEW APPLICATION FOR VARIOUS SKIN DISORDERS

Objectives In the human body, serotonin is well known as a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, appetite and sleep. However, more than 90% of the serotonin in a human body is generated in gastrointestinal, stored in platelets, circulating whole body exept brain, and contributes to various physiological function. Plants also produce serotonin, and this phyto-serotonin is known to be involved in plant growth, flowering, mature and senescence. The most difference between phyto-serotonin and human serotonin is phyto-serotonin turns to various serotonin derivatives to store in flowers and fruits during mature and senescence. Serotonin derivatives were dramatically increased against pathogen attack. There are 4 types of major serotonin derivates. Among these 4 compounds, Caffeoylserotonin (CaS), Feruloylserotonin (FS) and Coumaroylserotonin (CS) are major components which mainly found from some plant extracts. Almost all human diseases are accompanie/d by ROS generation, so we investigated the antioxidant ability of serotonin derivates to make sure that they have a potential as therapeutic reagent. Findings As a result, serotonin and serotonin derivates were found to have up to 16 fold higher antioxidant levels than Trolox which is the standard material of the antioxidant assay. In addition, CaS and 5-HT have been shown to inhibit protein damage and DNA damage either. Serotonin derivatives promote cell proliferation and migration and inhibit melanogensis and cell apoptosis. Interestingly, 5-HT regulated cell proliferation and cell migration only through ERK/AP-1/MMP9 pathway while additional Akt/NF-κB/MMP9 pathway was involved in effects of CaS. Conclusions These results suggest that CaS can enhance keratinocyte proliferation and migration. Overall, serotonin derivatives might have potential as reagents beneficial for wound closing, cell regeneration and anti-melanogenesis.