Researchers of the Placenta in Health and Disease group (Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology) led by prof. František Štaud and in cooperation with foreign experts from the University of Southern California have achieved significant success. Their experimental work on “Serotonin homeostasis in the materno-fetal interface at term: role of transporters (SERT/SLC6A4 and OCT3/SLC22A3) and monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) in uptake and degradation of serotonin by human and rat term placenta” was published in the journal Acta Physiologica (2020, https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.13478), with an impact factor of 5,868. The journal is also in the first decile of journals in Physiology.
With this work, the authors have shifted the paradigm of placental serotonin homeostasis by bringing a novel mechanism of serotonin uptake from the fetal circulation - crucial in protecting the placenta and fetus from toxic levels of serotonin! Importantly, this mechanism is sex-dependent and can be inhibited by glucocorticoids and pharmacotherapy (e.g. antidepressant drugs). This study opens new avenues to explore previously unsuspected/unexplained complications during pregnancy.
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Text: doc. PharmDr. Jaroslav Roh, Ph.D., Vice-Dean for Scientific Activity, Doctoral Studies and Technology Transfer
Photo: Placenta in Health and Disease group