ABSTRACT
This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of total Ginseng saponin (GTS) on the blood pressure of the rat and to elucidate its mechanism of action. GTS, when injeced into a femoral vein of the rat, caused dose-related fall in blood pressure with secondarily elevation of the blood pressure. The depressor effect of GTS was blocked by treatment of atropine and prazosin, but not affected by pretreatment with chlorisondamine or cyproheptadine. GTS inhibited significantly the pressor response evoked by norepinephrine. The pressor effect of GTS was not affected by treatment with atropine or cyproheptadine, but was attenuated markedly by pretreatment with chlorisondamine. From the above mentioned results, it is thought that GTS produces the pressor and the depressor actions in the rat, and that its depressor response is exerted partly through the stimulation of cholinergic muscaric receptors with the blockade of adrenergic alpha-receptors, and that its pressor response is revealed by stimulation of nicotinic receptors in autonomic ganglia.