Evidence for dopamine involvement in ambulation promoted by pulegone in mice.

I investigated whether dopamine (DA) is involved in the ambulation promoted by pulegone (PUL), a constituent of peppermint oil, in ICR mouse. Co-administration of PUL and bupropion (BUP) had an additive effect on their ambulation-promoting activities. When administered with PUL, the DA antagonists chlorpromazine, fluphenazine, haloperidol, SCH12679, and spiperone all attenuated the effect of PUL on ambulation. In addition, pretreatment with the DA depletor reserpine produced no subsequent sensitivity to the effect of PUL. Taken together, DA may be involved in the ability of PUL to promote ambulation in ICR mice but PUL may not be a direct DA agonist. The chemical structure of PUL is similar to menthol and menthone, and thus they may all be acting through a common mechanism.