GABAA Receptor- and Non-NMDA Glutamate Receptor-Mediated Actions of Korean Red Ginseng Extract on the Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Neurons

Korean red ginseng (KRG) has been used worldwide as a traditional medicine for the treatment of various reproductive diseases. Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons are the fundamental regulators of pulsatile release of gonadotropin required for fertility. In this study, an extract of KRG (KRGE) was applied to GnRH neurons to identify the receptors activated by KRGE. The brain slice patch clamp technique in whole cell and perforated patch was used to clarify the effect of KRGE on the membrane currents and membrane potentials of GnRH neurons. Application of KRGE (3 mu g/mu L) under whole cell patch induced remarkable inward currents (56.17 +/- 7.45 pA, n=25) and depolarization (12.91 +/- 3.80 mV, n=4) in GnRH neurons under high Cl- pipette solution condition. These inward currents were not only reproducible, but also concentration dependent. In addition, inward currents and depolarization induced by KRGE persisted in the presence of the voltage gated Na+ channel blocker tetrodotoxin (TTX), suggesting that the responses by KRGE were postsynaptic events. Application of KRGE under the gramicidin perforated patch induced depolarization in the presence of TTX suggesting its physiological significance on GnRH response. Further, the KRGE-induced inward currents were partially blocked by 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX; non-NMDA glutamate receptor antagonist, 10 mu M) or picrotoxin (PIC; GABA(A) receptor antagonist, 50 mu M), and almost blocked by PIC and CNQX mixture. Taken together, these results suggest that KRGE contains ingredients with possible GABA and non-NMDA glutamate receptor mimetic activity, and may play an important role in the endocrine function of reproductive physiology, via activation of GABA(A) and non-NMDA glutamate receptors in GnRH neurons.