title: Effect of Bak Foong pills on enhancing dopamine release from the amygdala of female rats.
abstract: To investigate whether Bak Foong Pills (BFP), a well-known gynaecological tonic, has a direct effect on the central nervous system, we employed the in vivo electrochemical detection technique, fast cyclic voltammetry (FCV), to measure the dopamine release from the mesolimbic structure-amygdala of both male and female rats. The results showed that intracerebroventricular BFP (0.75, 1.5 microg) treatment promoted dopamine release from the amygdala in both female and ovariectomized female rats. The BFP-induced response appeared within 5 min after addition of BFP and lasted for at least 40 min. However, no effect of BFP was observed in male rats for an observed period of up to 60 min. The results suggest that BFP may have gender-specific beneficial effect on dopaminergic functions of the amygdala.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Qingdao University, PR China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiao Li
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Jun Xia
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Yu Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Gou
authors.forename: Dewi Kenneth
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Rowlands
authors.forename: Hsiao Chang
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: C508116:Bak Foong Pills; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D004298:Dopamine