1998 Volume 78 Issue 4 Pages 501-504
Intraperitoneal administration of magnolol (25 - 100 mg/kg) produced a dose-related fall in rats’ colonic temperature. The magnolol-induced hypothermia was attenuated by pretreatment with intracerebroventricular 6-hydroxydopamine (200 μg/rat). The L-DOPA (200 mg/kg, i.p.) plus benserazide (50 mg/kg, i.p.)-induced hyperthermia was attenuated by magnolol. On the other hand, the α-methyltyrosine (100 mg/kg, i.p.)-induced hypothermia was potentiated by magnolol. Furthermore, magnolol (50 mg/kg, i.p.) decreased the dopamine and norepinephrine release in the hypothalamus, but did not change the concentrations for their metabolites (3, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid). The data suggest that magnolol decreases colonic temperature by reducing catecholaminergic activity in rat hypothalamus.
