title: The effects of Acorus tatarinowii Schott on 5-HT concentrations, TPH2 and 5-HT1B expression in the dorsal raphe of exercised rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acorus tatarinowii Schott (Shi Chang Pu) belongs to the family of Acoraceae. The plant is used as an important herb for prolonging life many years in traditional Chinese medicine. It is an ancient herbal tonic nutriment and can be used as anti-fatigue medicine. However, the effects of Acorus tatarinowii Schott on the endurance exercise in relation to central nervous system have not yet been clarified. In this study, the effects of Acorus tatarinowii Schott on treadmill running endurance, 5-HT concentrations, TPH2, 5-HT1B expression in the dorsal raphe of exercised rats were investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups: the normal group, the exercise group, the exercise and the rhizomes of Acorus tatarinowii Schott (ATS)(1mg/kg)-treated group, the exercise and ATS (10mg/kg)-treated group, the exercise and ATS (100mg/kg)-treated group, the exercise and caffeine (10mg/kg)-treated group. The effects of Acorus tatarinowii Schott on endurance exercise were determined by the time to exhaustion during treadmill exercise. The detection of 5-HT concentrations in the dorsal raphe was performed by HPLC analysis. The levels of TPH2, 5-HT1A and 5-HT1B expression were measured by western blot analysis and real-time PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found Acorus tatarinowii Schott could prolong the time to exhaustion in treadmill exercise and suppress the exercise-induced increase of 5-HT synthesis, TPH2 mRNA and protein expression and prevent the exercise-induced decrease of 5-HT1B mRNA and protein expression in the dorsal raphe. Acorus tatarinowii Schott was as effective as caffeine in prolonging the exhaustion time in treadmill running and in decreasing the exercise-induced increase of 5-HT synthesis and TPH2 mRNA and protein expression and in preventing the exercise-induced decrease of 5-HT1B mRNA and protein expression in the dorsal raphe.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicated that the effects of Acorus tatarinowii Schott in inhibiting the exercise-induced synthesis of 5-HT and TPH2 expression and in preventing the exercise-induced decrease of 5-HT1B expression in the dorsal raphe might be the anti-fatigue mechanism of Acorus tatarinowii Schott.
authors.affiliation: School of Sports Science, Jinggangshan University, Jian 343009, Jiangxi, China. Electronic address: zhu_mj@163.com.
authors.forename: Meiju
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: School of Sports Science, Jinggangshan University, Jian 343009, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Hongzhu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, China.
authors.forename: Ninghua
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, China.
authors.forename: Guangzhi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: School of Sports Science, Jinggangshan University, Jian 343009, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: School of Sports Science, Jinggangshan University, Jian 343009, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Hongbiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: School of Sports Science, Jinggangshan University, Jian 343009, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Sports Science, Jinggangshan University, Jian 343009, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: School of Sports Science, Jinggangshan University, Jian 343009, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Renle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D029023:Acorus / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D065847:Dorsal Raphe Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D044302:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1B / Q000378:metabolism*; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D014365:Tryptophan Hydroxylase / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D044302:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1B; D012701:Serotonin; D014365:Tryptophan Hydroxylase; C504569:tph2 protein, rat
keywords: (+)-Galbacin (PubChem CID: 442873); 3,4,5-Trimethoxybenzaldehyde oxime (PubChem CID: 6875502); 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (PubChem CID:237332); 5-hydroxytryptamine; Acorus tatarinowii Schott; Exercise; Serotonergic inhibitory autoreceptor; Tryptophan hydroxylase; acoramone (PubChem CID: 3083746); acteoside (PubChem CID: 5281800); calamenene (PubChem CID: 10224); chrysophanic acid (PubChem CID:10208); cis-asarone (PubChem CID:636822); cycloartenone (PubChem CID: 348093); emodin (PubChem CID : 3220); martynoside (PubChem CID: 5319292); physcione (PubChem CID: 10639)