Dual restoring effects of gastrodin on dopamine in rat models of Tourette's syndrome.

Tourette's syndrome (TS) occurs commonly in children, and dysfunction of dopaminergic system has long been postulated to underlie the disorder. Here, we used two TS rat models induced by 3,3'-iminodipropionitrile (IDPN) and Apomorphine (Apo) to assess an unique dopamine (DA) modulating property of gastrodin (GAS), the main bioactive component isolated from Gastrodia elata Blume, which has been widely used for treating various neurological disorders. By using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the dual restoring effects of gastrodin, at least partially, has been observed: on the one hand, gastrodin increased the down-regulated striatal DA content in IDPN-induced rats; on the other hand, gastrodin decreased the up-regulated striatal DA content in Apo-induced rats. Taken together, our data corroborated that gastrodin could restore the abnormal striatal DA dually, and this therapeutic potential might be meaningful for the anti-tic treatment.