Agmatine Enhances Dorsal Raphe Serotonergic Neuronal Activity via Dual Regulation of 5-HT1B and 5-HT2A Receptors

Agmatine is a naturally occurring biogenic amine that acts primarily as an inhibitor of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). Previous studies have shown that both acute and chronic agmatine administration induced anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects in rodents. In the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), nitric oxide (NO) donors inhibit serotonergic (5-HT) neuronal activity, with the nNOS-expressing 5-HT neurons showing lower baseline firing rates than the non-nNOS expressing neurons. Our study aimed to test the hypothesis that the psychoactive effects of agmatine are mediated, at least in part, via a mechanism involving the stimulation of the DRN 5-HT neurons, as well as to assess the molecular pathway allowing agmatine to modulate the excitability of 5-HT neurons. Using extracellular in vivo electrophysiology, we demonstrated that both acute (1–3 mg/kg, i.v.) and chronic (40 mg/kg/day, i.p., 14 days) agmatine administration significantly increased the firing rate of DRN 5-HT neurons. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis revealed that chronic agmatine treatment selectively upregulated the expression of serotonin-1B (5-HT1B) and serotonin-2A (5-HT2A) receptor mRNA in the DRN. Previous studies have shown that DRN 5-HT2A receptor activation stimulates 5-HT neurons and produces antidepressant-like effects; our findings suggest that agmatine’s excitatory effect on DRN 5-HT neurons may be partially 5-HT2A receptor-dependent. Given that modulation of the 5-HT neuronal firing activity is critical for the proper antidepressant efficacy, nNOS inhibitors can be potential antidepressants by their own and/or effective adjuncts to other antidepressant drugs.