Inhibitive effects of Fructus Psoraleae extract on dopamine transporter and noradrenaline transporter

A petroleum ether extract (FP) from Fructus Psoraleae, seeds of Psoralea corylifolia L. (Leguminosae), was found to strongly inhibit dopamine (DA) uptake by dopamine transporter (DAT) heterogeneously expressed cells (D8 cells) and noradrenaline (NE) uptake by noradrenaline transporter (NET) heterogeneously expressed cells, which, however, had no effect on γ-aminobutyric acid transporter heterogeneously expressed cells and serotonin transporter heterogeneously expressed cells at the concentration up to 100 μg/ml. These inhibitory effects were also confirmed by experiments on SK-N-SH cell line and synaptosomes from rats’ brains. In addition, FP showed a significantly mitigating effect on 1-methyl-4-pyridinium induced injury of D8 cells. Meanwhile, FP dose-dependently reduced the binding of tritium-labeled cocaine analog (−)-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-fluorophenyl) tropane to DAT of D8 cells, which suggests that FP may inhibit DAT activity in the same way as cocaine does. Behavioral study showed FP had a long-lasting stimulant effects on the activity of intact mice and reserpinized mice. So FP is proposed as a kind of DAT and NET inhibitor and may be involved in the process of regulating the DA and NE system, and FP or its unknown bioactive compounds may be developed into new medicines for disorders such as Parkinson's disease, depression, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or cocaine addiction.