The effects of intravenous serotonin on respiration, cerebral circulation, and blood pressure were examined in narcotized rats. Serotonin rapidly decreased local cerebral blood flow (by almost 30%) and blood pressure. Hemodynamic phenomena were accompanied by sharp changes in the respiration pattern: short-term apnea in all cases. The mechanism of this apnea was related to initial stages in blood pressure changes and had a neurogenic nature.
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