• Natural Product Sciences
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2020

Flavonoids are mainly contained in the vegetables and medicinal herbs. Until now, over 5,000 kinds of flavonoid have been identified and their biological activities have been reported. Among them, we are interested in oroxylin A and spinosin because of their specific structures having bulky group at C-6 of ring A. Oroxylin A is contained in the Scutellaria baicalensis and exhibits cognitive enhancing activity as a GABA_A receptor antagonist, which is different from those of mainly contained in the S. baicalenis, baicalein or wogonin. Spinosin is isolated from Zizyphus jujuba var. spinosa and mainly studied as a hypnotic or anxiolytic agent because of traditional knowledge about its original herb. As far as we know, the cognitive function of spinosin was first identified by our group. In this review, we discuss how such flavonoids exert their pharmacological activities associated with cognitive function based on the receptor binding study and behavioral studies. Traditional knowledge and reverse pharmacology may be addressed in the research field of phytochemical pharmacology and useful to unveil the secret of phytochemicals.

• 생물치료정신의학
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• 제24권3호
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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.

• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
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• 제2권2호
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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 Ginseng Research
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• 제47권4호
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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.

• 대한약리학회지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.45-55
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• 1983

뇌내 여러 신경전달물질계가 시상하부-뇌하수체-부신계(HPA)를 복잡하게 조절하고 있다는 증거가 많이 나오고 있다. 그 중에서도 5-HT(Serotonin)계의 stress시의 역할에 대해서는 많은 연구가 있어왔으나 아직 논란이 많이 제기되고 있다. 따라서 저자는 5-HT가 stress시 HPA axis를 조절하는데 필수적인 역할을 하는가를 말아보기 위해서 1) Stress전후에 5-HT의 steady state농도와 5-HT의 교체율(turnover rate) 및 합성율(synthesis rate)을 측정해 보았으며 2) 비교적 5-HT계에 특이하게 작용하는 여러 약물들을 주사한 후에 stress 반응을 측정해 보았다. 1) 1분간 ether stress 가한 직후에 시상하부와 다른 뇌부위에서의 5-HT와 5-HIAA농도는 즉각적으로 의미있게 상승하였으나 혈장 corticosterone농도는 즉각상승을 보이지 않다가 2분후에 상승을 보였다. 2) Stress(30분 immobilization & 1분 ether stress)가한 백서에서는 시상하부와 다른 뇌부위에서 5-HT합성을 혹은 교체율이 2배-4배까지 상승하였다. 3) 5-HT합성 전구물질(L-tryptophan)과 수용체 자극제 (5-MeODMT)를 투여하였을 때는 투여용량에 비례해서 혈장 corticosterone함량이 상승하였다. 4) L-tryptophan과 MAO억제제 (pargyline) 혹은 L-tryptophan과 5-MeODMT의 병합 투여로 stress시 혈장 corticosterone의 상승이 더 높게 나타났다. 5) 5-HT 합성억제제(PCPA), 5-HT 신경독약(5,7-DHT)을 투여하고 stress를 가하였을 때는 시상하부와 다른 뇌 부위에서 5-HT의 하강이 별로 나타나지 않았으며, 동시에 혈장 corticosterone의 하강도 의미있게 나타나지 않았다. 그러나 midline raphe핵을 파괴하였을 때는 5-HT와 corticosterone의 하강이 나타났다. 6) 비교적 특이하게 serotonin제에 작용하는 여러 약물들을 투여한 후에 나타나는 5-T와 혈장 corticosterone함량 사이에는 상당히 높은 양의 상관관계계가 있었다(r>0.81). 이상의 결과를 종합해 볼때 serotonin(5-HT)은 시상하부-뇌하수체-부신계의 스트레스반응조절에 중요한 자극적 역할을 하리라고 생각된다.