Abstract
Objective : In 2001, the rate of obesity in Korea reached 30.6%. There are many therapeutic ways to reduce body weight, such as low and very low calorie diet, exercise therapy, behavior modification therapy, etc. However, in many cases the patients feel stress under obesity treatment because of starvation. This study was aimed to evaluate the anti-starvation stress effect of Coicis Semen on mice. Methods : First, the mice were divided into 6 groups : Normal (group with no starvation), Control (administrated normal saline 6 times before starting 36 hours starvation), and Samples A, B, C, and D (administrated 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0 g/kg Coicis Semen respectively 6 times before starting 36 hours starvation). Then the plasma corticosterone level and rectal temperature were measured. The norepinephrine, dopamine, DOPAC (dihydroxy-phenylacetic acid), 5-HT (5-hydroxytryptamine) and 5- HIAA (5-hydroxy-indole-acetic acid) in the hypothalamus were measured by the HPLC method. Result : I. The rectal temperature in Sample group D showed a significant difference (P<0.05) compared with the Control group. 2. The DOPAC in Sample groups A, C and D showed the significant difference (P<0.05) compared with the Control group. Conclusion : It might be recognized that Coicis Semen has an anti-starvation stress effect.
