title: Effect of oral feeding of essence of chicken on the level of 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid of the rat.
abstract: The effect of oral feeding of a commercial preparation of essence of chicken (Brand's Essence of Chicken, BEC) on the level of 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of the rat was investigated. BEC, when fed to the rat for a period of 3 days, significantly increased the CSF level of 5-HIAA in seven out of 12 animals studied. As the level of CSF 5-HIAA is taken as an indication of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) activity in the brain, it is possible that BEC increased brain 5-HT activity. This increase was not due to the ingestion of tryptophan, the primary precursor of 5-HT, because BEC contains undetectable level of tryptophan. The data indicate that by causing an increase in brain 5-HT activity, consumption of BEC may lead to the activation of 5-HT-dependent physiological process like sleep improvement, mood elevation, analgesia, facilitation of motor output and regulation of circadian rhythm. However, such a possibility remains to be further investigated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Sim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D017551:Microdialysis; D011202:Poultry Products; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid