Psychotropic Effects of Ginseng Saponine on Agonistic Behavior in Male and Female Mice

Psychotropic actions of crude ginseng saponins(CGS), pure ginsenoslue Rbl(GS-bl) and gin- senoside Rgl(GS-gl) isolated from the root of Panax ginseng, were evaluated by determining their effects on agonistic behavior in male(Experiment 1) and female(Experiment 2) mice, using a biologically relevant method. The results of experiment 1 demonstrated that CGS and GS-bl significantly suppressed aggressive episodes (offensive sideways posture and attack bite) in a dose-dependent manner when the resident was drugged, whereas G5-gl was ineffective. However, when the intruder was treated with one of three ginseng saponins, agonistic behavior between resident and intruder males was not altered. In experiment 2, acute administration of CGS and G5-bl significantly suppressed maternal aggression, whereas GS-gl was ineffective. As compared with the vehicle-treated group, chronic treatment with CGS and GS-bl significantly suppressed maternal aggression, while GS-gl showed a tendency to increase the frequency of attack bite by females. These findings clearly indicate that the root of Panax ginseng contains psychoactive ingredient, which can suppress both intermale and maternal aggression in mice. We suggest that the present results have important implications for the clinical usefulness of ginseng saponins in psychiatric medicine.