Objective

2

To investigate the possible mechanisms of modified

Xiaoyao Powder

（逍遥散） in the treatment of hyperprolactinemia （HPRL） with liver constraint and spleen deficiency.

Methods

2

Ninety-six female SD rats were randomly divided into a normal group （n=16） and a modeling group （n=80）. In the modeling group， rats were subjected to chronic unpredictable stress combined with intraperitoneal injection of metoclopramide to establish a rat model of HPRL with liver constraint and spleen deficiency. The 80 successfully modeled rats were randomly divided into a model group， a high， medium， and low-dose group of modified

Xiaoyao Powder，

and a bromocriptine group， with 16 rats in each group. The high， medium， and low-dose groups of modified

Xiaoyao Powder

were orally administered doses of 60， 30， and 15 g/（kg·d） respectively， the bromocriptine group was orally administered bromocriptine tablets at a dose of 1 mg/（kg·d）， and the normal group and model group were orally administered 10 ml/（kg·d） of normal saline for 14 consecutive days. ELISA was used to detect serum prolactin （PRL） level； immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha （TNF-α） and tyrosine hydroxylase （TH） in the hypothalamus； Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 （TNFR1） in the hypothalamus； Real-time PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of receptor interacting protein kinase 3 （RIP3） in the hypothalamus； immunofluorescence was used to detect the co-expression of RIP3 and dopamine neurons in the hypothalamus.

Results

2

Compared with the normal group， the serum PRL levels were increased in the model group， and the expression of hypothalamic TNF-α， TNFR1， RIP3 mRNA， and the co-expression of RIP3 with dopamine neurons were significantly increased， while TH expression was decreased （

P

＜0.05 or

P

＜0.01）. Compared with the model group， the expression of hypothalamic TNF-α was decreased in the bromocriptine group and low-dose group of modified

Xiaoyao Powder

， and the expression of TH was significantly increased in the medium and high-dose groups of modified

Xiaoyao Powder

and the bromocriptine group. The serum PRL levels， hypothalamic TNFR1 and RIP3 mRNA expression， and the co-expression of RIP3 with dopamine neurons were significantly decreased in all dose groups of modified

Xiaoyao Powder

and the bromocriptine group （

P

＜0.05 or

P

＜0.01）. Compared with the bromocriptine group， the serum PRL level were significantly increased in the high and low-dose groups of modified

Xiaoyao Powder

， TH expression was significantly increased in the medium-dose group of modified

Xiaoyao Powder

， hypothalamic RIP3 mRNA expression was decreased in the low-dose group of modified

Xiaoyao Powder

， and the co-expression of RIP3 with dopamine neurons was significantly increased in the high-dose group of modified

Xiaoyao Powder

（

P

＜0.01）.

Conclusion

2

Modified

Xiaoyao Powder

can regulate the programmed cell death of hypothalamic dopamine neurons， affect DA expression， and regulate PRL levels， which may be one of its mechanisms in the treatment of HPRL with liver constraint and spleen deficiency.