• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.311-317
• /
• 2000

In this study we fed control diet and tryptophan supplemented diets containing 0.1,0.2,0.35% tryptophan to ICR mice for 1∼3 weeks to investigate the effects of tryptophan supplemented diet on pain sensitivity and the analgesic mechanism of serotonin. Animals fed tryptophan supplemented diets displayed increased antinociception when measured with hot plate and phenylquinone-writhing tests. And animals with typtophan supplemented diet had higher brain serotonin and 5-HIAA concentration than the control animals.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.4 no.6
• /
• pp.439-444
• /
• 2000

Tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been commonly used for the treatment of premature ejaculation. In the present study, we analyzed the concentrations of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of the hypothalamus by awakening animal microdialysis following administration of clomipramine and various SSRIs. We then compared the serotonin metabolism and clinical effects of clomipramine and SSRIs on premature ejaculation. Basal extracellular serotonin level in the MPOA was higher than other brain regions and it was significantly increased by clomipramine and the SSRIs. The rank order of the concentration of serotonin at the MPOA was clomipramine, sertraline, paroxetine and fluoxetine and the concentrations of 5-HIAA was vice versa. The changes in serotonin concentration at the MPOA appeared closely associated with the clinical effects of these drugs on premature ejaculation. These results suggest that the serotonergic neuronal activity in the MPOA may have an selective inhibitory influence on ejaculation, and the effects of clomipramine and SSRIs on erectile function are mainly mediated by MPOA of the hypothalamus.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.326-331
• /
• 1991

Brain serotonin and its utilization was investigated on stressed rats after feeding high tryptophan diet for a month. High tryptophan fed rats displayed significantly higher level of serum tryptophan, brain tryptophan, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) than the control diet fed rats. When rats were treated with 3 hour immobilization (IMMB) stress, serotonin turnover was slightly increased, but not statistically significant, in control diet group rats. However in high tryptophan diet rats, 3 hr IMMB stress resulted in statistically significantly (p<0.05) decreased the serum tryptophan, brain tryptophan and 5-HT level. The concentration of 5-HIAA was significantly increased indicating accelerated utilization of the brain 5-HT of the high trp. fed rat. The utilization pattern of the serotonin was found to be similar among young and adult rats. Rats on a tryptophan enriched diet displayed higher coping ability to the stress as they exhibited smaller increment of corticosterone level. A possble involvement of opioid system was suggested in serotonin utilization by measuring total $^{3}$[H]-naloxone binding in brain.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.1 no.3
• /
• pp.346-353
• /
• 1996

The anthropometric measurements, nutrient intake, concentrations of minerals in scalp hair and urine and urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid(5-HIAA) of 30 autistic children not taking psychoactive drugs and 30 nonautistic control children were determined. The autistic children were taking significantly lower amounts of vitamin A, niacin, ascorbic acid and iron. The intake of vitamin A, niacin, and iron in autistic children were found to be 22$\%$, 75$\%$ and 58 of RDA, respectively. The decreased anthropometric measurements in height and weight of autistic children seems partly due to lower intake of these micronutrients. The food intake in vitamin and mineral group of autistic children was significantly lower. It is probably related to decreased intake of fruit in autistic children. There was no toxicity of cadmium and aluminum in both groups according to their contents in scalp hair. Autistic children showed elevated levels of hair calcium and zinc but lowered levels of copper and iron. The urinary excretion urinary excretion of 5-HIAA.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.153-164
• /
• 1995

Sympathomimetic amines, especially ephedrine, are a major ingredient in proprietary medications for symptomatic treatment of upper respiratory infections. Their frequent uses can lead to occasional instances of abuse and habituation. The clinical symptoms of ephedrine abuse are similar to that of amphetamine psychosis and resemble closely that of schizophrenia. Because both amphetamine psychosis and schizophrenia are thought to be mediated primarily through the action on catecholamines, ephedrine-induced changes of the biogenic amines can be suspected. However, there were few studies about the central effects of ephedrine because of the milder central action than peripheral. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken to elucidate the relations between the effects of single or repeated administration of ephedrine on the regional levels of biogenic amines in rat brain and ephedrine-induced CNS stimulation. The male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing $100{\sim}200\;g$ were used. After single or repeated administrations of ephedrine, blocks of tissue were obtained from frontal cortex, corpus striatum, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, substantia nigra and cerebellum. The concentration of biogenic amines(norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine(5-HT)) and their metabolites (3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid(HVA), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid(5-HIAA)) were measured by means of high performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detector(HPLC-ECD). The results obtained were as follows: 1) In the normal rat, the concentration of norepinephrine was the highest in hypothalamus. Dopamine, DOPAC and HVA were highest in corpus striatum, and 5-HT and 5-HIAA were highest in substantia nigra. Epinephrine was not detectable in any part of the brain tissue. 2) In a single administration of ephedrine, the concentration of DOPAC was decreased in corpus striatum. However, the other biogenic amines and their metabolites were not changed. 3) In repeated administration of ephedrine, the concentration of norepinephrine was decreased in all brain region checked. Dopamine was decreased in corpus striatum and substantia nigra and, increased in hypothalamus, and HVA was decreased in corpus striatum. 5-HT was decreased in all brain region except cerebellum and, 5-HIAA was decreased only in frontal cortex. The ratio of 5-HIAA/5-HT was increased in corpus striatum, thalamus, hypothalamus and substantia nigra. These data indicated that, although a single administration of ephedrine did not change the central neurotransmitters, repeated administration of ephedrine caused the decreases of norepinephrine and 5-HT in the most regions of brain, which may be responsible for the emergence of abnormal behavioral effect after ephedrine abuse.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.570-576
• /
• 2003

The remarkable change of phenomenon induced by stress increase energy metabolism that can induce many reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. ROS can peroxidize cellular macromolecules including lipid and protein. The object of this study was to investigate whether stress may induce cellular damage by producing ROS and whether vitamin E, as a strong lipid-soluble antioxidant, can protect cells against reactive oxygen species produced by noise and immobilization stress in SD rats. The stress group increased 5-hydroxyindole aceti acid (5-HIAA) , one of the stress hormone, in brain tissue and free fatty acid in plasma. Vitamin I treatment had no effect on 5-HIAA but free fatty acid contents decreased with a fortified vitamin I diet. Furthermore, the body weight of vitamin I-treated rats increased more than that of the stress group. Lipid peroxidation and protein degradation as an index of oxidative damage in brain tissue decreased with the use of the fortified vitamin I diet supplement. The results suggest that vitamin I supplements have a protective effect against noise and immobilization stress-induced oxidative damage in brain tissue.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.231-247
• /
• 1993

This study was designed to confirm the effect of dietary protein level and oral administration of tryptophan on brain serotonin metabolism. Two animal experiments were conducted. The objectives and results of research were as follows : In the first experiment, it was investigated whether administration of reserpine to Sprague-Dawley rats fed 6% or 20% casein diet induced decrease in serum tryptophan and large neutral amino acid(LNAA) concentrations, tryptophan/LNAA concentration ratio, brain tryptophan, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid(5-HIAA) contents. Brain serotonin content of 6% casein diet group was lower than those of 20% casein diet group. Both 6% and 20% casein diet groups administered with reserpine to induce the analogous depression, showed the notable decrease in brain serotonin content when they were compared with 20% casein diet group not administered with reserpine. Serum tryptophan/LNAA ration and brain 5-HIAA content showed a tendency similar to the change of serotonin content, but the mean difference among all groups was not significant. From these results, it could be said that when the dietary protein level was low, brain serotonin content was decrease. The second experimnt was to see the change in serum tryptophan concentration and tryptophan/LNAA ratio and brain tryptophan, serotonin and 5-HIAA content when tryptophan was administered orally to the animals treated with reserpine. Serum tryptophan concentration tended to increase in both reserpine-treated 6% and 20% casein diet groups administered with tryptophan, especially in the 6% casein diet group. Serum tryptophan/LNAA concentration ratio tended to incrase in reserpine-tteated 6% casein diet group, while decrease in reserpine-treated 20% casein diet group. Brain tryptophan content was increased in both reserpine-treated 6% and 20% casein diet groups. However, brain serotonin content of reserpine-treated 6% casein diet group showed a tendency to decrease, while that of reserpine-treated 20% casein group increase. Consequently, the effect of tryptophan administration on increase of brain tryptophan and serotonin content in animals treated with reserpine was far more excellent in 20% casein diet groups. It was concluded that dietary protein intake and tryptophan administration increase brain serotonin level. Accordingly, it was possible to confirm that brain function, particularly in aspect of behavior related to the serotonin, was changed with manipulation of dietary composition.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.278-282
• /
• 1998

Various neurotransmitters have been proposed as possible mediators of penile erection. Especially, norepinephrine and serotonin might have a important role in sexual arousal and penile erection. And it could be hypothesized that the psychogenic impotence is associated with the depletion or imbalance of norepinephrine and serotonin from evidences, such as the symptomatic manifestation of depression and the antidepressantinduced sexual dysfunction. The authors investigates the association of norepienphrine and serotonin with psychogenic impotence. The psychogenic impotent group(PIG) consisted of twenty-three patients with psychogenic impotence and the controlled group(CG) consisted of twenty-seven patients without psychogenic impotence. PIG had no organic cause accounting for their erectile dysfunction. The Beck Depression Inventory(BDI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI) were applied to each subject to assess mood, state anxiety(SA) and trait anxiety(TA). Plasma norepinephrine level from systemic blood and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid(HIAA) levels from 24-hours urine were measured in each subject. The mean score of BDI of PIG was significantly higher than that of CG(p=0.015). PIG had a tendency of higher TA compared with CG(p=0.054). And also SA was higher in PIG, but did not show significant difference(p=0.193). The level of norepinephrine was significantly lower in patient with psychogenic impotence(p=0.000). And the level of 24-hours urine 5-HIAA was lower in PIG but did not show significant difference(p=0.494). Although the authors did not exclude depressive disorders in PIG, the present findings suggest that psychogenic impotence might have higher depressive mood and trait anxiety, and be associated with the depletion of norepinephrine in systemic blood.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 1992

Catecholamines, serotonin and their metabolites were measured in the posterior hypothalamus of urethane-anesthetized normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) using brain microdialysis which is a recently developed experimental method to measure the release of neurotransmitters and their metabolites at the localized brain area in vivo. Microdialysis probe was implanted stereotaxically to the rat posterior hypothalamus and perfused by Ringer's solution. Monoamines and their metabolites were quantified by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. In vitro recovery test of microdialysis showed that there exist inverse relationship between the perfusion flow rate and the relative recovery of neurochemical compounds. The estimated extracellular concentration of dopamine was about 32 nM, of norepinephrine 50 nM, of epinephrine 50 nM, of serotonin 73 nM, of 3, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) 281 nM, of homovanillic acid (HVA) 181 nM, and of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) 3767 nM in the hypothalamic perfusate of the normotensive rat. There was no difference in the basal level of monoamines between the SHR and the WKY. In contrast, the level of DOPAC, HVA and 5HIAA in SHR was higher than that in the WKY, This study demonstrated that the microdialysis technique should be an applicable tool for in vivo measurement of central neurochemical substances.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.1222-1228
• /
• 1998

Stress will induce various changes in human metabolism. The remarkable phenomenon of these changes is increased energy metabolism that can induce many reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. ROS can peroxidize cellular macromolecules including lipid and protein. The object of this study was to investigate that stress may induce cellular damage by producing ROS and that Rooibos tea can protect cells against reactive oxygen species by immobilization stress in SD rat. The stress group significantly increased in 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA), one of the stress hormone. Rooibos tea treatment had no effects on 5-HIAA contents, but body weight of Rooibos tea treated rat more increased than that of only the stress group. It was suggested that Rooibos tea colud not affect stress response itself, but protect against the another mechanism. We thought that the oxidative damage was caused by increased energy metabolism. Protein degradation level and lipid peroxide formation on index of oxidative damage significantly increased in the stress group. But the stress-induced activity change could not be observed in antioxidative enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase. But the catalase activity of the brain significantly was inhibited by the stress. From these results, it was suggested that the immobilization stress induce the brain oxidative damage. However the oxidative damage was inhibited by feeding Rooibos tea containing various antioxidants, such as polyphenol, flavonoid and so on. Therefore, Rooibos tea have the protective effects against the stress caused by the ROS mediated cellular damage.