1998 Volume 45 Issue 1 Pages 69-74
Saireito, a saiko agent (a Chinese herbal drug), increases the synthesis and secretion of ACTH by stimulating hypothalamic CRH release. In the present study, we examined the effect of food containing saireito (1.5%) on the recovery of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis after treating male rats with prednisolone (PSL, 200μM) in drinking water for 14 days. Saireito was administered during and after PSL administration. The rats were decapitated at various times after PSL administration. Tail-pinch stress had been applied to some rats. The plasma ACTH response to tail-pinch stress in the PSL+saireito group recovered to the control level on day 1, but that in the group given PSL alone recovered on day 3. The ACTH level in the anterior pituitary and the CRH level in the median eminence of the PSL+saireito group returned to the control level on day 3, and that in the group given PSL alone returned to it on day 5. These results indicate that the administration of saireito reduces the negative feedback effect of PSL on the hypothalamus and pituitary dccelerates the recovery of the hypothalamic CRH and pituitary ACTH level after glucocorticoid treatment.
