ABSTRACT
RATIONALE: Depression is a severe psychiatric disorder with oxidative imbalance and neurotrophic deficits as underlying mechanisms. OBJECTIVES: Based on the antioxidant effects of carvedilol (CARV), here, we aimed to evaluate CARV's effects against depression induced by the chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) model. METHODS: Female Swiss mice were submitted to the CUS protocol for 21 days. Between days 15 and 22, the animals received CARV (5 or 10 mg/kg) or desvenlafaxine (DVS 10 mg/kg) orally. On the 22nd day, mice were subjected to behavioral tests to evaluate locomotion, depressive-like behavior (tail suspension test), motivation/self-care with the splash test (ST), social interaction, and working memory Y-maze test. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus were dissected to evaluate alterations of oxidative and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). RESULTS: The CUS model reduced locomotion and increased grooming latency, while it reduced the number of groomings in the ST. Both doses of CARV and DVS reverted these alterations. In addition, DVS and CARV reversed CUS model-induced working memory and social interaction deficits. The CUS model decreased hippocampal reduced glutathione (GSH), while DVS and CARV increased GSH in the PFC (CARV5) and hippocampus (CARV5 and 10). The CUS model increased nitrite and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in both areas. All treatments reversed nitrite alterations, while CARV10 changed MDA levels in PFC and all treatments in the hippocampus. The CUS model reduced BDNF levels. CARV10 increased BDNF in the PFC, while both doses of CARV increased hippocampal levels of this neurotrophin. CONCLUSIONS: CARV presents antidepressant-like effects comparable to those observed with DVS. In addition, it has an antioxidant effect and is capable of increasing BDNF brain concentrations. Further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the antidepressant effect of CARV.
Subject(s)
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor , Depression , Animals , Antidepressive Agents/pharmacology , Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/metabolism , Carvedilol/pharmacology , Depression/drug therapy , Disease Models, Animal , Female , Hippocampus/metabolism , Mice , Oxidative Stress , Stress, Psychological/drug therapyABSTRACT
Flavonoids have aroused much interest in research, since they present a great diversity of biological activities observed in vitro, such as: antioxidant effect, modulation of the enzymatic activity and inhibition of cellular proliferation, exerting beneficial effects on the organism, as well as the use of its therapeutic potential. With wide distribution in the plant kingdom represent a class of phenolic compounds that differ in their chemical structure and particular characteristics. The objective of this review was to describe the relevant aspects of flavonoids, reporting the different known groups, the probable mechanisms by which they act, their pharmacological properties and to gain a better understanding of the reported beneficial health effects of these substances. This systematic review consisted of research using scientific databases such as Scopus, Science Direct, PubMed, SciVerse and SciELO, without time limitation. Some pharmacological properties of some flavonoids and their health benefits have been confirmed by previous studies.
Subject(s)
Flavonoids/pharmacology , Animals , Antioxidants/pharmacology , Flavonoids/chemistry , Flavonoids/therapeutic use , Humans , Phenols , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plant Extracts/therapeutic useABSTRACT
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder reported to compromise about 1% of the world's population. Although its pathophysiological process is not completely elucidated, evidence showing the presence of an oxidative imbalance has been increasingly highlighted in the literature. Thus, the use of antioxidant substances may be of importance for schizophrenia treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the behavioral and oxidative alterations by the combination of chlorpromazine (CP) and alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), a potent antioxidant, in the ketamine (KET) model of schizophrenia in rats. Male Wistar rats (200-300â¯g) were treated for 10â¯days with saline, CP or ALA alone or in combination with CP previous to KET and the behavioral (open field, Y-maze and PPI tests) and oxidative tests were performed on the last day of treatment. The results showed that KET induced hyperlocomotion, impaired working memory and decreased PPI. CP alone or in combination with ALA prevented KET-induced behavioral effects. In addition, the administration of KET decreased GSH and increased nitrite, lipid peroxidation and myeloperoxidase activity. CP alone or combined with ALA prevented the oxidative alterations induced by KET. In conclusion, the treatment with KET in rats induced behavioral impairments accompanied by hippocampal oxidative alterations, possibly related to NMDA receptors hypofunction. Besides that, CP alone or combined with ALA prevented these effects, showing a beneficial activity as antipsychotic agents.
Subject(s)
Antioxidants/pharmacology , Antipsychotic Agents/pharmacology , Chlorpromazine/pharmacology , Schizophrenia/drug therapy , Thioctic Acid/pharmacology , Animals , Disease Models, Animal , Drug Therapy, Combination , Hippocampus/drug effects , Hippocampus/metabolism , Ketamine , Lipid Peroxidation/drug effects , Lipid Peroxidation/physiology , Male , Memory, Short-Term/drug effects , Motor Activity/drug effects , Nitriles/metabolism , Oxidative Stress/drug effects , Oxidative Stress/physiology , Prepulse Inhibition/drug effects , Random Allocation , Rats, Wistar , Schizophrenia/metabolismABSTRACT
O objetivo deste estudo é descrever a avaliação pelo público-alvo de um aplicativo de celular construído para o ensino dos sinais vitais. Seguiramse metodologicamente os passos propostos por Galvis-Panqueva para o processo de construção e validação de tecnologias. E neste estudo está descrita a etapa de avaliação pelo usuário. Participaram 29 acadêmicos do curso de graduação de enfermagem, que responderam a um instrumento de avaliação do aplicativo quanto às características de estilo, motivação e conteúdo. Como resultado, é possível destacar que a maior parte avaliou o aplicativo como excelente para as três características avaliadas: estilo (21-25; 72,6%-86,2%); motivação (20-25; 69,0%-86,2%); e conteúdo (21-25; 72,4%-86,2%). No tocante à adesão ao uso do aplicativo, considera-se que a avaliação demonstrada nos resultados permite sugerir que os estudantes o utilizarão de forma rotineira, conforme suas necessidades, haja vista que ao considerar altos os valores de motivação, estilo e conteúdo, estará implícito um envolvimento emocional em acreditar que o recurso poderá ser útil para auxiliar na tomada de decisões. Assim, conclui-se que o aplicativo foi bem avaliado pelo grupo de estudantes de enfermagem. Desse modo, prevê-se que esse recurso será uma alternativa viável para o fortalecimento do processo de aprendizagem.
The objective of this study is to describe the evaluation by the target audience of a mobile application program built for the teaching of vital signs.The steps proposed by Galvis-Panqueva for the construction and validation of technologies were methodologically followed. The user evaluationphase is also described in this study. Twenty-nine undergraduate nursing students participated and answered to an application assessment to olevaluating style, motivation and content characteristics. As a result, most respondents evaluated the application as excellent for the three evaluated characteristics: style (21-25, 72.6%-86.2%); motivation (20-25, 69.0%-86.2%); and content (21-25, 72.4%-86.2%). Regarding adherence to the use ofthe application, the evaluation allows concluding that students will use it routinely according to their needs, considering that the high scores givento motivation, style and content evidence emotional involvement in believing that the resource may be useful in assisting decision-making. Thus,the application was well evaluated by the nursing students group. In this way, it is expected that this resource will be a viable alternative for the strengthening of the learning process.
El objetivo de este estudio fue describir cómo el público-objeto evalúa la aplicación móvil construida para la enseñanza de los signos vitales. Para la construcción y evaluación de tecnologías se siguieron las etapas metodológicas propuestas por Galvis-Panqueva. En el presente estudiose describe la etapa de evaluación de los usuarios. Participaron 29 estudiantes del curso de grado en enfermería, que se manifestaron sobre las siguientes características: estilo, motivación y contenido, por medio de una herramienta de evaluación de la aplicación. Se realza que la mayoríaafirmó que la aplicación era excelente para las tres características: estilo (21-25; 72,6%-86,2%); motivación (20-25; 69,0%-86,2%); y contenido(21-25; 72,4%-86,2%). Con respecto a la adhesión a la aplicación, se considera que los resultados de la evaluación sugieren que los estudiantes lautilizarán habitualmente, según la necesidad, teniendo en cuenta que los altos valores de motivación, estilo y contenido indican que los alumnos estarán involucrados emocionalmente al pensar que dicho recurso les podrá ser útil en la toma de decisiones. Por lo tanto, se llega a la conclusión que la aplicación fue bien evaluada por el grupo de estudiantes de enfermería. Se espera que este recurso sea una alternativa viable para el fortalecimiento del proceso de aprendizaje.
