Anti-5-hydroxytryptamine3 effect of galanolactone, diterpenoid isolated from ginger.

It has been reported that an acetone extract of ginger and its fractions have anti-5-HT (5-hydroxytryptamine; serotonin) effects. In the present study, guinea pig ileum, rat stomach fundus and rabbit aortic strips are used in order to determine the constituents of fraction 2 which are responsible for anti-5-HT effect and to examine their pharmacological properties. The analysis of fraction 2-3 indicated that galanolactone, a diterpenoid, is one of the active constituents. In guinea pig ileum, galanolactone inhibited contractile responses to 5-HT with a pIC50 value 4.93. pIC50 value of galanolactone against the response to 2-methyl-5-HT, a selective 5-HT3 agonist, in the presence of methysergide at 1 x 10(-5) M was 5.10. pIC50 values of ICS 205-930, a selective 5-HT3 antagonist, were 5.30 and 7.49, respectively. The concentration-response curve of 5-HT was shown as a biphasic curve and galanolactone caused a selective shift to the right of the second phase. In the same preparations, the pIC50 value of galanolactone and ICS 205-930 against the response to carbamylcholine (CCh) was 4.45 and 4.46. The inhibitory effect of galanolactone on the 5-HT response in the stomach fundus and aortic strips was less than that in the ileum. In addition, in the thoracic aorta precontracted with 50 mM K+, the relaxing effect of galanolactone was about 1/10 of that of papaverine. These results suggest that the anti-5-HT effect of galanolactone, a diterpenoid isolated from ginger, is related to antagonism of 5-HT3 receptors.