To observe the effects of volatile oil of Gaoliangjiang（Alpinia officinarum Hance），Dagaoliangjiang（Alpinia galanga Willd）and Hongdoukou（Alpinia galanga Willd）on body temperature and sympathetic nerve-adrenal axis in rats with stomach cold syndrome and to explore the material basis of warm properties of three Chinese drugs of Alpinia.

A total of 150 SPF grade SD male rats were selected，and 10 rats were randomly selected as the blank group.The other rats were simulated the stomach cold syndrome by oral administration of Zimu decoction.After modeling，they were randomly divided into model group，positive group，volatile oil of Gaoliangjiang（Alpinia officinarum Hance）high and low dose groups，volatile oil of Dagaoliangjiang（Alpinia galanga Willd）high and low dose groups，volatile oil of Hongdoukou（Alpinia galanga Willd）high and low dose groups，Gaoliangjiang（Alpinia officinarum Hance）high and low dose groups，Dagaoliangjiang（Alpinia galanga Willd）high and low dose groups，Hongdoukou（Alpinia galanga Willd）high and low dose groups.With gingerol as the positive control，the anal temperature was determined by electronic thermometer，the body temperature of upper abdomen and mid-abdomen was determined by infrared thermograph，and the contents of norepinephrine（NE），adrenocorticotropic hormone（ACTH），corticotropin releasing hormone（CRH），dopamine（DA），dopamine-β-hydroxylase（D-β-H），serotonin（5-HT），acetylcholinesterase（AchE）and 17 hydroxycorticosteroids（17-OHCS）were determined by ELISA.

Compared with those of the blank group，the contents of NE，ACTH，CRH，DA，D-β-H，AchE and 17-OHCSin serum of rats with stomach cold syndrome were significantly decreased.The content of 5-HT was significantly increased.Compared with that of the model group，the content of ACTH in all other groups，except that in the volatile oil of Dagaoliangjiang（Alpinia officinarum Hance）low dose group and Hongdoukou（Alpinia officinarum Hance）volatile oil groups，was significantly increased.The 17-OHCScontent was significantly increased in all groups except that in the low dose group of Gaoliangjiang（Alpinia officinarum Hance）.The CRH content of rats was significantly increased except that in low dose groups of Gaoliangjiang（Alpinia officinarum Hance）and Hongdoukou（Alpinia galanga Willd）.The D-β-H was significantly increased except that in low dose groups of Dagaoliangjiang（Alpinia galanga Willd）and Hongdoukou（Alpinia galanga Willd）.The DA content of rats was significantly increased and the 5-HTwas significantly decreased except those in the Hongdoukou（Alpinia galanga Willd）group.The AchE was significantly increased except that in the low dose group of Gaoliangjiang（Alpinia officinarum Hance）.The NE in each administration group was significantly increased.

The essential oil of three Chinese drugs of Alpinia can regulate the function of sympathetic nerve and adrenal axis in rats with stomach cold syndrome.