Open AccessEffect of psychotropic drugs on the contents of melatonin, serotonin and N-acetylserotonin in rat pineal gland.
Author(s) -
Hiroyuki Wakabayashi,
Kenji Shimada,
Yoshifusa Aizawa,
Tetsuo Satoh
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
japanese journal of pharmacology/japanese journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1347-3506
pISSN - 0021-5198
DOI - 10.1254/jjp.49.225
Subject(s) - melatonin , pineal gland , serotonin , medicine , endocrinology , biology , receptor
In the dark phase, the effects of the psychotropic drugs on the contents of melatonin, serotonin (5-HT) and N-acetylserotonin (NAS) in rat pineal gland were examined. The pineal gland was removed at a certain period of time after subcutaneous injection of the drugs. 5-HT, NAS and melatonin contents in the pineal gland were determined by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection. A dose-dependent decrease was observed for melatonin content in the administration of diazepam (DZP), hydroxyzine (HYZ), chlorpromazine (CPZ) or haloperidol (HPD). When imipramine (IPM) or amitriptyline (APL) was given to rats, pineal 5-HT content was significantly decreased. On the other hand, the administration of IPM or APL caused increases in pineal NAS and melatonin. Furthermore, the administration of phenytoin (PYT) revealed no changes in the content of pineal indoleamines. These results suggest that the psychotropic drugs widely used in clinical applications could cause significant changes in pineal indoleamine content.