• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.5-8
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• 2003

Alcohol abuse and cigarette smoking have been on the rise worldwide and it has been reported that alcohol and nicotine influence serotonergic neuronal activity in the dorsal raphe. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of various neuropsychiatric disorders. In the present study, the effects of alcohol and nicotine on the synthesis of 5-HT and the expression of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), the rate limiting enzyme of 5-HT synthesis, in the dorsal and median raphe of young rats were investigated via immunohistochemistry. The numbers of the 5-HT-positive and TPH-positive cells in raphe nuclei were reduced by alcohol and nicotine treatment, and these numbers were reduced more potently by co-administration of alcohol and nicotine. Based on the results, it can be suggested that the pathogenesis of alcohol- and nicotine-induced neuropsychological disorders involves alcohol- and nicotine-induced suppression of 5-HT synthesis and TPH expression in raphe, and that this may be of particular relevance in the consumption of alcohol and nicotine during adolescence.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.113-119
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• 2007

Developmental disability shows life-long behavioral abnormality with no significant physical malformation. This study was undertaken to develop an animal model for developmental disability by using two-factor approach. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a bacterial toxin, and NAN-190, a $5-HT_{1A}$ receptor antagonist, were administered to Sprague-Dawley rats on postnatal day (PND) 5 to induce inflammation and an altered 5-HT system, respectively. Long-term alteration of behavior occurred in the drug-treated groups. The LPS-treated group showed impaired motor coordination in the Rota-rod test. The LPS- treated or both LPS and NAN-190-treated groups showed impaired fore-paw muscle power in the wire maneuver test. These groups also showed decreased white matter volume and increased serotonergic fibers. The LPS and NAN-190-treated group also exhibited neurologic deficit in the placing reaction test and impaired equilibrium function in the tilt table test. The results showed that a variety of altered behaviors can be generated by two factor model, and suggested that combination of important etiologic factors and possible underlying defects is a promising strategy of establishing an animal model for developmental disabilities.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.403-411
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• 1990

The present investigation was performed to see a possible influence of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) on pancreatic exocrine secretion in anesthetized rats since the DRN had been known to exert a regulatory mechanism on sympathetic activity which was known to be very important for pancreatic exocrine secretion, particularly in rats. Twenty-nine Sprague-Dawley rats fasted for 24 hours were anesthetized by i.p. injection of 1 g/kg of urethane. The pancreatic duct was cannulated to collect pancreatic juice while bile juice was diverted into the jejunum. The duodenopyloric junction was tightly ligated. After surgery for collection of pancreatic exocrine secretion and recording of carotid blood pressure, a coaxial electrode was stereotaxically inserted in the DRN with a guide of a brain atlas. And then, electrical stimulus of biphasic square wave with 2 v, 2 msec, 40 Hz was applied on the electrode for 10 minutes. Pancreatic volume flow and protein output secreted in 10 min were measured. Either bilateral cervical vagotomy or spinal cord transection at the level of $C4{\sim}C5$ was performed 20 min prior to stimulation of the DRN. 1) Electrical stimulation of the DRN resulted in significant (p<0.05) increase in pancreatic volume flow and protein output. These stimulatory effects were not affected by cervical vagotomy but completely abolished by cervical cord transection. 2) Electrical stimulation of the DRN also resulted in significant (p<0.05) rise of blood pressure of the carotid artery. The hypertensive effect was not affected by cervical vagotomy but completely abolished by cervical cord transection. The results strongly suggest that the DRN, a part of the central serotonergic system, could exert a stimulatory influence on pancreatic exocrine secretion by increasing the sympathetic activity in anesthetized rats.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.558-562
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• 2014

Tramadol is an opioid analgesic agent that has been the subject of a series of case reports suggesting potential for misuse or abuse. However, it is not a controlled substance and is not generally considered addictive in Korea. In this study, we examined the dependence potential and abuse liability of tramadol as well as its effect on the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems in rodents. In animal behavioral tests, tramadol did not show any positive effects on the experimental animals in climbing, jumping, and head twitch tests. However, in the conditioned place preference and self-administration tests, the experimental animals showed significant positive responses. Taken together, tramadol affected the neurological systems related to abuse liability and has the potential to lead psychological dependence.

• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.43-45
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• 2016

Whole body energy balance is achieved through the coordinated regulation of energy intake and energy expenditure in various tissues including liver, muscle and adipose tissues. A positive energy imbalance by excessive energy intake or insufficient energy expenditure results in obesity and related metabolic diseases. Although there have been many obesity treatment trials aimed at the reduction of energy intake, these strategies have achieved only limited success because of their associated adverse effects. Serotonin is among those traditional pharmacological targets for anti-obesity treatment because central 5-HT functions as an anorexigenic neurotransmitter in the brain. Thus, there have been many trials aimed at increasing the activity of 5-HT in the central nervous system, and some of the developed methods are already used in the clinical setting as anti-obesity drugs. However, recent studies suggest the new functions of peripheral serotonin in energy homeostasis ranging from the endocrine regulation by gut-derived serotonin to the autocrine/paracrine regulation by adipocyte-derived serotonin. Pharmacological inhibition of 5-HT synthesis leads to inhibition of lipogenesis in epididymal white adipose tissue (WAT), induction of browning in inguinal WAT and activation of adaptive thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT). Fat specific Tph1 knock-out (Tph1 FKO) mice exhibit similar phenotypes as mice with pharmacological inhibition of 5-HT synthesis, suggesting the localized effects of 5-HT in adipose tissues. In addition, Htr3a KO mice exhibit increased energy expenditure in BAT and Htr2a KO mice exhibit the decreased lipid accumulation in WAT. These data suggest the clinical significance of the peripheral serotonergic system as a new therapeutic target for anti-obesity treatment.

• Journal of the Korean society of biological therapies in psychiatry
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.129-141
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• 2018

Suicide is a behavior that is intended to cause death by itself and requires medical treatment, resulting in suicidal attempt or completion. Suicide causes loss of life, damages the body, costs a lot of medical expenses, and causes families to fall into sorrow and suffering therefore this suicide is a huge loss to family and society. There have been attempts to reduce and prevent suicide by understanding the mechanism of suicide. The mechanism of suicide can be thought of as psychological mechanism and biological mechanism. In the past, if we considered the psychological and biological mechanisms separately, the development of neuroscience now connects and integrates these two. Psychological factors affect biological factors and biological temperaments also affect perception or thinking about the situation and increase psychological vulnerability. Distant factors in suicidal behavior-such as childhood adversity and family and genetic predisposition-increase the lifetime risk of suicide. They alter the response to stress and other processes through changes in gene expression and regulation of emotional and behavioral characteristics. Distant factors affect the biological system and consequently changes in these systems can increase the risk of suicide. In other words, the distal factor does not directly induce suicidal behavior but rather acts indirectly through developmental or mediating factors. These mediating factors are impulsive aggressive and anxious trait, and chronic use of substances. The mechanism of this disorder is the abnormality of the serotonin system and the abnormality of the lipid level. Proximal factors are associated with the onset of suicide events and include changes in the major neurotransmitter systems, inflammatory changes, and dysfunction of glial cells in the brain. A series of studies, including a variety of research methods and postmortem and in-vivo imaging studies, show the impairment of the serotonergic neurotransmitter system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis stress response system for suicidal behavior. These disorders lead to suicidal behavior due to difficulty in cognitive control of mood, pessimism, reactive aggression, abnormality in problem solving abilities, excessive response to negative social signals, severe emotional distress, and cognitive dysregulation of suicidal ideation.

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.41-63
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• 2005

Ginseng has been useful for the treatment of diverse disease in oriental countries for thousands of years. In addition, a folk medicine prescribed by seven herbal drugs including Panax ginseng has been antinarcotics in the treatment of morphine-dependent patients. Many articles have been reported on these works. Therefore, we review the protective effects of Panax ginseng on the neurotoxicity induced by abuse drugs. Ginseng total saponins (GTS) extracted and isolated by Panax ginseng antagonized morphine-induced analgesia, and inhibited the development of analgesic tolerance to and physical dependence on morphine. CTS inhibited morphine-6 dehydrogenase, which catalyzes production of mophinone from morphine, and increased hepatic glutathione level responsible to toxicity. Therefore, wehypothesized that these dual actions of ginseng can be associated with the detoxication of morphine. In addition, the inhibitory or facilitated effects of GTS on electrically evoked contraction in guinea pig ileum (${\mu}$-receptors) and mouse vas deferens(${\delta}$-receptors) were not mediated through opioid receptors, suggesting non-opioid mechanisms. On the hand, antagonism of U-50,488H (${\kappa}$-agonist)-induced antinociception is mediated by serotonergic mechanisms. GTS also inhibited hyperactivity, reverse tolerance (sensitization) and conditioned place preference-induced by psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, cocaine and morphine. On the other hand, GTS reduced the dopamine levels induced by methamphetamine. Moreover, GTS blocked the development of dopamine receptor activation, showing antidopaminergic effect. We suggest that GTS prevent the methamphetamine-induced striatal dopaminergic neurotoxicity. In addition, Ginsenoside also attenuates morphine-induced CAMP signaling pathway. These results suggested that GTS might be useful for the therapy of the adverse actions of drugs with abuse liability.

• Korean Journal of Schizophrenia Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2020

Objectives: Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a movement disorder that is characterized by hyperkinetic movements. Previous studies have suggested that the serotonergic systems are correlated with TD vulnerability. In this study, the association between a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the serotonin 1A receptor gene (HTR1A) rs6295 and TD was investigated. Methods: We investigated whether HTR1A rs6295 SNP is associated with antipsychotic-induced TD in 280 Korean patients with schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia having TD (n=105) and those without TD (n=175) were matched for their antipsychotic exposures and other relevant variables. The HTR1A rs6295 SNP was analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods. Results: There was no significant difference in the distribution of genotypic (χ²=2.70, p=0.26) and allelic (χ²=1.87, p=0.17) frequencies between the patient groups with TD and without TD. There was no significant difference in total abnormal involuntary movement scale score (F=0.39, p=0.68) among the genotype group either. Conclusion: Although there were no differences in genotypic and allelic frequency between patient groups with and without TD, further studies on association of TD with other SNPs of HTRA1 are needed to understand the pathophysiological mechanism of TD.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2023

Background: This study investigated the effect of an excess and a deficit of spinal 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) on the mechanical allodynia and neuroglia activation in a rodent pain model of carrageenan inflammation. Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with an intrathecal (i.t.) catheter to administer the drug. To induce an excess or deficit of 5-HT in the spinal cord, animals were given either three i.t. 5-HT injections at 24-hour intervals or a single i.t. injection of 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) before carrageenan inflammation. Mechanical allodynia was measured using the von Frey test for 0-4 hours (early phase) and 24-28 hours (late phase) after carrageenan injection. The changes in the activation of microglia and astrocyte were examined using immunofluorescence of the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord. Results: Both an excess and a deficit of spinal 5-HT had no or a minimal effect on the intensity of mechanical allodynia during the early phase but prevented the attenuation of mechanical allodynia during the late phase, which was observed in animals not treated with i.t. 5-HT or 5,7-DHT. Animals with an excess or deficit of 5-HT showed stronger activation of microglia, but not astrocyte, during the early and late phases, than did normal animals. Conclusions: Imbalance in the descending 5-HT pathway in the spinal cord could aggravate the mechanical allodynia and enhance the activation of microglia, suggesting that the spinal 5-HT pathway plays an essential role in maintaining the nociceptive processing in balance between facilitation and inhibition in inflammatory pain caused by carrageenan inflammation.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.552-560
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• 2023

Background: Ginseng Radix (Panax ginseng Meyer, Araliaceae) has been used medicinally to treat the brain and nervous system problems worldwide. Recent studies have revealed physiological effects that could potentially benefit cognitive performance or mood. The present study aimed to investigate the antidepressant effects of Korean red ginseng water extract (KGE) and its active component in an unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS)-induced animal model and elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Methods: The antidepressant potential of the UCMS model was evaluated using the sucrose preference test and open field tests. The behavioral findings were further corroborated by the assessment of neurotransmitters and their metabolites from the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of rats. Three doses of KGE (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg) were orally administered during the experiment. Furthermore, the mechanism underlying the antidepressant-like action of KGE was examined by measuring the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/CREB, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) proteins in the prefrontal cortex of UCMS-exposed rats. Results: KGE treatment normalized UCMS-induced depression-related behaviors. Neurotransmitter studies conducted after completing behavioral experiments demonstrated that KGE caused a reduction in the ratio of serotonin and dopamine, indicating a decrease in serotonin and dopamine turnover. Moreover, the expression of BDNF, Nrf2, Keap1 and AKT were markedly increased by KGE in the prefrontal cortex of depressed rats. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that KGE and its constituents exert antidepressant effects that mediate the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems and expression of BDNF protein in an animal model.