Effect of Zena F-III ®, a Liquid Nutritive and Tonic Drug, on the Neurochemical Changes Elicited by Physical Fatigue in Mice

• Published in: Pharmacology, biochemistry and behavior Vol. 66; no. 4; pp. 771 - 778
• Main Authors: Hanawa, Masa-Aki, Asano, Toshiki, Akiyama, Kayo, Yabe, Kazunori, Tsunoda, Kenji, Tadano, Takeshi, Sutoo, Den'Etsu
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01-08-2000; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Chemistry - drug effects; Brain Chemistry - physiology; Brain Mapping; Caffeine - pharmacology; Calcium - blood; Calcium - metabolism; Calcium/calmodulin; Central Nervous System Stimulants - pharmacology; Crude drugs; Dopamine - metabolism; Dopamine synthesis; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Fatigue - metabolism; General pharmacology; Immunohistochemistry; Liquid nutritive and tonic drug; Locomotor activity; Male; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice brain; Motor Activity - drug effects; Neostriatum - drug effects; Neostriatum - metabolism; Overwork-induced physical fatigue; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Pyridoxine - pharmacology; Riboflavin - pharmacology; Taurine - pharmacology; Traditional Chinese medicine; Walking - physiology; Liquid nutritive and tonic drug; Mice brain; Calcium/calmodulin; Overwork-induced physical fatigue; Crude drugs; Traditional Chinese medicine; Dopamine synthesis; Locomotor activity; Physical exercise; Nervous system diseases; Dopamine; Calcium; Pharmacognosy; Central nervous system; Vitamin; Oral administration; Fatigue; Extract; Catecholamine; Biological activity; Blood; Blood plasma; Prevention; Locomotion; Folk medicine; Central nervous system disease; Plant origin; Mechanism of action; Food supplement; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0091-3057; 1873-5177
• DOI: 10.1016/S0091-3057(00)00270-7

The effects of a liquid nutritive and tonic drug (NTD) on the neurochemical changes elicited by physical fatigue in mice were investigated in terms of the calcium-dependent dopamine synthesizing function of the brain. In this study, Zena F-III
® (Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Japan), one of the most popular NTDs in Japan, containing 15 crude drug extracts together with taurine, caffeine, and vitamins, and formulated based on the precepts of traditional Chinese medicine, was used. Male mice were forced to walk for 0–6 h at a speed of 3 m/min using a programmed motor-driven wheel cage. The serum and brain calcium levels in the mice were significantly increased following forced walking. The increase in brain calcium level began later and was more gradual than that in the serum calcium level, and reached its maximum value following forced walking for 3 h. The neostriatal dopamine level was also significantly increased, and locomotor activity significantly decreased following forced walking for 3 h. Prior oral administration of F-III (10 ml/kg) attenuated the increases in the serum and brain calcium levels, the increase in the brain dopamine levels, and the decrease in locomotor activity induced by forced walking. Taking into consideration these findings with our previous reports, it is suggested that physical fatigue leads to an increase in dopamine synthesis in the brain through a calcium/calmodulin-dependent system, thereby inducing behavioral changes, and that F-III inhibits this pathway and may alleviate overwork-induced physical fatigue.