This is a quote from a paper – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12559-017-9538-5. If anyone’s interested
‘S (+) isomer is several times more potent than its R (−) enantiomer. The S (+) isomer is known to induce euphoria, whereas enantiomer R (−) causes depression. ‘
I’ve always associated euphoria/depression with sertonin. Can anyone clarify what those two terms are in the brain and how they relate to serotonin?
In: Biology
So it’s a bit of a weird concept, but imagine that you have a chemical and a nearly identical chemical. They contain the same atoms and the way the atoms are connected is the same, but they are mirror images of each other. (Your hands are enantiomers of each other, hopefully) Enantiomer is a more specific kind of isomer, which just means a chemical with the same atoms as another chemical. Here’s an [image](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enantiomer#/media/File:Milchs%C3%A4ure_Enantiomerenpaar.svg), not of serotonin, but of a simple enantiomer.
We call enantiomers R or S depending on the order of groups around them, from biggest to smallest.
Anyhow, it looks like serotonin enantiomers affect your brain differently, probably because one fits the serotonin receptor better than the other.
Those are chemical terms. Isomer can mean a lot of different things it’s a group name like “mammal” enantiomer specifies the kind of isomer we are talking about (so not only saying mammal but speaking of foxes ) enantiomers are isomers, they are molecules that are build not only from the same set of atoms they are also build in the same way, the only difference is that they act like a mirror to each other, just like your shoes.
Your shoes are made from the same materials and in the same way but no matter how much you turn your right shoe it will never fit on your left foot. And an enantiomer also can only fit into certain spaces and do certain things like that, and this is what the article is referencing.
Enantiomers are just two molecules that are a mirror image of each other, such that they cannot be superimposed and therefore act slightly differently because of their different configurations, despite containing the same atoms. The left hand-right hand thing is the classic way to explain it.
Latest Answers