Neurotrophic and Neuritogenic Effects of Water Extracts of Rhizoma of Coptis chinensis Franch in PC12 Cells.
- Author:
Gee Youn KWON
1
;
Byung Kil CHOE
;
Soo Kyung KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Keimyung University, Daegu 700-712, Korea. green@dsmc.or.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Coptis chinensis;
Neurite outgrowth;
PC12 cells
- MeSH:
Animals;
Antibodies;
Anxiety Disorders;
Axons;
Coptis*;
Medicine, East Asian Traditional;
Nerve Growth Factor;
Neurites;
PC12 Cells*;
Pheochromocytoma;
Rats;
RNA, Messenger;
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders;
Water*
- From:The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
2003;7(3):175-179
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Coptis chinensis (CC) is one of the traditional herbs used in Oriental medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, anxiety, and insomnia. In this study, neurotrophic and neuritogenic effects of CC on rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells were evaluated. Pretreatment of PC12 cells with water extracts of CC (120microgram/ml) produced considerable outgrowth of neurites that is comparable to the effect of nerve growth factor (NGF). Therefore, neurite outgrowth was quantified and expression of NGF mRNA was examined. Furthermore, characteristics of neurites were immunocytochemically confirmed using axon and dendrite-specific antibodies. These results suggest that water extracts of CC contain components that have neurotrophic and neuritogenic properties.
