Monoamine Transporter - Associated Disorders and Treatments

Associated Disorders and Treatments

Monoamine transporters are believed to be factors in several neurological conditions due to their role in reuptake of the monoamines dopamine, noradrenaline, and 5-hydroxytryptamine. These conditions include ADHD, depression, drug abuse, Parkinson’s disease, Schizophrenia, and Tourette's syndrome. Evidence supporting this belief includes that monoamine transporters, DAT, NET, and SERT, are important target sites for therapeutic drugs used in the treatment of mood disorders. Several drugs are used to treat disease symptoms by blocking monoamine transporters, which results in an increase in extracellular monoamines. In addition, the levels of monoamine transporters have been shown to be altered in many of these psychiatric and neurological conditions. Finally, polymorphic variations in monoamine transporter genes have been proposed to be associated with conditions such as ADHD and depression.