Erinacine A increases catecholamine and nerve growth factor content in the central nervous system of rats
2005
Shimbo, M. | Kawagishi, H. | Yokogoshi, H.
Nerve growth factor (NGF) is an essential protein for supporting growth and maintenance of peripheral sympathetic neurons. A novel diterpenoid erinacine, isolated from the cultured mycelia of Hericium erinacium, is known to have a potent stimulating effect on NGF synthesis. The effects of erinacine and related compounds in the brain in vivo are not known. In this study, we examined the effects of erinacine A on the production of NGF and catecholamines which stimulate NGF synthesis in the brain of rats. Rats were treated with erinacine A by intubation for the first 3 weeks from birth to weaning and intragastrically from weeks 4 to 5. Rats treated with this compound had increased levels of both noradrenaline and homovanillic acid in the locus coeruleus (LC) at 4 weeks of age and increased levels of NGF in both LC and hippocampus at 5 weeks of age. The effects of erinacine A were confirmed in the central nervous system in rats.
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