The effect of epinephrine and serotonin on hepatic poly(A)+ RNA synthesis

The function of serotonin within the liver

Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is known to regulate several key aspects of liver biology and these functions include hepatic blood flow, innervation and wound healing. Given the importance of these functions it is surprising that relatively little time has been dedicated to studying the precise function and mechanisms of serotonin within the liver. Here we describe what is known about serotonin and the liver and those receptor types that mediate the observed effects with an aim to stimulating new interest in the field of serotonin and liver biology.

A new antileishmanial compound, phaseolinone

Inclusion of phaseolinone, a newly described mycotoxin, at 20 micrograms per ml in a solid culture medium (blood agar overlay) and at 50 micrograms per ml in a liquid culture (medium 199) inhibited the growth of L. donovani promastigotes. About 90% of the motile promastigotes lost motility after exposure to 50 micrograms per ml of phaseolinone for 6-7 h and here 3-day-old culture was more sensitive than 7-day-old culture. In an in vitro assay, DNA dependent RNA polymerase activity of 3-day-old promastigotes was considerably inhibited in the presence of this toxin. Therefore, this key enzyme was suggested to be one of the sites of action of phaseolinone.