Koji Nishizawa and Akira Yamashita (*)
Kampo (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Research Laboratories, Kanebo, Ltd.,
5-90, Tomobuchi-cho 1-chome, Miyakojima-ku, Osaka 534, Japan
(*) To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract: The effects of Kamikihi-To (KMK), a traditional Chinese
medicine, on behavioral changes induced by methyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxylate
(beta-CCM) were evaluated in mice and rats. beta-CCM, an anxiogenic benzodiazepine
receptor inverse agonist (3.0 mg/kg, i.v. administered 1 min before the
test), decreased the locomotor activity of mice in a novel environment.
Furthermore, beta-CCM (0.1 mg/kg, i.v. administered 10 min before the test)
facilitated the suppression of drinking behavior induced by punishment in
the water lick conflict test in rats. KMK (1.0 and 2.0 g/kg, p.o. administered
1 hr before the test) antagonized the decreased locomotor activity in the
beta-CCM-treated mice. KMK (2.0 g/kg, p.o.) also recovered the suppression
of drinking behavior in the beta-CCM-treated rats. KMK (2.0 g/kg, p.o.)
had no effect on beta-CCM-untreated mice and rats in these tests. These
findings suggest that KMK has a protective effect against beta-CCM-induced
behavioral changes.
Keywords: Kamikihi-To, Anxiety, Methyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxylate,
Locomotor activity, Water-lick test