title: Prolonged infusion of Panax ginseng saponins into the rat does not alter the chemical and kinetic profile of hormones from the posterior pituitary.
abstract: The effect of prolonged administration (i.v.) of commercially available Panax ginseng extract (PGE) on the kinetic profile of the hormones from the posterior pituitary (PP) was studied in male Wistar rats. The rats were infused with 7.36 mg kg-1 h-1 of PGE for 8 days while the hormones from the PP were pulse-labeled at their place of translation in the hypothalamus. The concentration of labeled hormones was analyzed after increasing chase time intervals and compared to controls which were infused with the same volume of isotonic saline. The study revealed: (1) Prolonged administration of PGE prevents the drop in body weight during the 48-h period following stereotaxic surgery. At the end of the ginseng infusion period body weight increased as seen in controls. (2) The concentration of labeled oxytocin, oxytocin-neurophysin, the metabolically converted form of oxytocin-neurophysin and arginine-vasopressin-neurophysin per single PP did not change under prolonged ginseng administration. (3) The amino acid pattern from the ventromedial hypothalamus was not different from controls. From our results we conclude that the physiological effect of PGE in the rat is not based on changes in the translation, conversion rate or the chemical structure of hormones from the PP.
authors.affiliation: Midwest Hypertension Research Institute, Omaha, NE 68131.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zierer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D015918:Infusion Pumps, Implantable; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D007700:Kinetics; D007930:Leucine / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D005894:Panax; D010909:Pituitary Hormones, Posterior / Q000378:metabolism*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012503:Saponins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014316:Tritium
chemical_list: D010909:Pituitary Hormones, Posterior; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012503:Saponins; D014316:Tritium; D007930:Leucine