Efeitos da administração de inibidores de fosfodiesterases na reversão da hiperatividade de camundongos expostos ao etanol no período correspondente ao terceiro trimestre de gestação em humanos / Effects of phosphodiesterase inhibitors administration on reversal of hyperactivity in mice exposed to ethanol during the period corresponding to the third pregnancy trimester in humans

O consumo de etanol durante a gestação é um grave problema de saúde pública. Durante o desenvolvimento, o sistema nervoso é especialmente susceptível aos efeitos tóxicos do etanol e a exposição ao etanol durante este período pode gerar um amplo espectro de distúrbios neurocomportamentais, sendo o mais frequente, a hiperatividade. Recentemente, estudos têm sugerido que distúrbios na plasticidade neuronal podem estar relacionados com a hiperatividade. Os inibidores de PDE são drogas que agem impedindo a degradação de segundos mensageiros celulares como AMPc e GMPc, mantendo a ativação de proteínas quinases e de fatores de transcrição como o CREB, levando a expressão de genes relacionados à plasticidade. Neste trabalho, avaliamos através do teste de campo aberto se a administração de Vinpocetina ou Rolipram (inibidores de PDE) seria capaz de amenizar ou reverter a hiperatividade de camundongos Suíços expostos ao etanol no período correspondente ao terceiro trimestre de gestação humana. Para tanto, foram realizadas duas etapas: na primeira etapa, durante o período neonatal, os animais receberam injeções intraperitoneais de etanol (5g/Kg em solução salina a 25%, no 2º, 4º, 6º e 8º dias de vida pós-natal - PN2 a PN8) ou de salina, e 4 horas antes do teste comportamental no campo aberto (10 min), em PN30, receberam Vinpocetina (10mg/Kg ou 20mg/Kg diluídas em DMSO ip) ou somente DMSO ip. Na segunda etapa, os animais foram expostos ao etanol ou à salina no período neonatal nas mesmas condições da primeira etapa e no dia do teste comportamental receberam Rolipram (0,5 mg/Kg diluídas em DMSO ip ou somente DMSO ip). Posteriormente aos testes, foram coletados o córtex cerebral frontal e o hipocampo dos animais para avaliação dos níveis de AMPc. Os resultados comportamentais indicam que somente o tratamento com Vinpocetina (20mg/Kg) reverteu a hiperatividade de camundongos expostos ao etanol, resultado que não foi observado com o tratamento com Rolipram. Desta forma...

Ethanol consumption during gestation is a serious public health problem. During development, the nervous system is particularly susceptible to the toxic effects of ethanol and, in fact, ethanol exposure during perinatal development produces a range of neurobehavioral deficits, among which hyperactivity is one of the most frequently observed. There is evidence that reduced neuronal plasticity could be associated with hiperactivity. PDE inhibitors are drugs that prevent the breakdown of intracellular second-messengers such as cAMP and cGMP, maintaining the activation of protein kinases and of the CREB transcription factor, leading to the expression of plasticity-related genes. In this study we test whether Vinpocetine or Rolipram (PDE inhibitors) treatment can improve or revert hyperactivity in Swiss exposed to alcohol during the third trimester equivalent of human gestation. To that end, two experiments were carried out: In the first one, from postnatal day (PN) 2 to PN8, litters either received ethanol (5g/Kg i.p., 25% in saline solution) of an equivalent volume of saline solution every other day. On PN30, 4 h before the open field test (which lasted for 10 min) animals received Vinpocetine (10mg/Kg of 20mg/Kg diluted in DMSO i.p.) of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO i.p.). In the second experiment animals were treated almost as before receiving Rolipram (0.5mg/Kg diluted in DMSO i.p.), instead of Vinpocetine, of DMSO i.p. After the tests, animals were sacrificed and frontal cerebral cortices and hippocampuses were dissescted and collected for the analysis of cAMP levels. Behavioral results showed that only the Vinpocetine treatment (20mg/Kg) reversed the ethanol-elicited hyperactivity, a result that was not observed for the Rolipram treatment. In this way, the dosage of cAMP levels was done only for the animals that received Vinpocetine (20mg/Kg). Ethanol neonatal exposure significantly reduced cAMP levels both in the cortex and in the hippocampus. Vinpocetine...

in irtro investigation on the inhbitory effects of four different species of vinca extracts on leishmania major

Vinca minor, Vinca major, Vinca variegata and Vinca rosea are different species of Vinca genus, of Apocynaceae family. In addition to ornamental applications, they are placed in the group of medicinal plants, because of the various alkaloids they possess. The purpose of this research was the investigation of the antileishmanial effects of the methanolic and crude extracts of leaves and stems of these four plant species on L.major promastigotes in vitro. The results showed that the methanolic extracts of all four species induced a significant decrease in the number of L.major promastigotes in different degrees and an increase in concentration and exposure time would destroy the parasites completely

Anti-spermatogenic effect of Vinca rosea Linn.

Regressive changes in seminiferous tubules and Leydig cells, increased cholesterol content in testis, and degeneration of all germinal elements other than spermatogonia were observed in the male Swiss albino mice, treated with aqueous extract of V. rosea leaves for 24 days. While the results reflect antiandrogenic and antispermatogenic action of V. rosea, the selective retention of the spermatogonia provides scope for the much desired revival of spermatogenesis on cessation of the treatment.