Balance alterations and reduction of pedunculopontine cholinergic neurons in early stages of parkinsonism in middle-aged rats.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate balance alterations and the possible role of the cholinergic neurons in the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) in the early stages of a progressive animal model of Parkinson's disease (PD). Twenty-eight middle-aged (8-9 months) male Wistar rats received 4 or 10 subcutaneous vehicle (control, CTL) or reserpine (RES) injections (0.1 mg/kg). The animals were submitted to different behavioral tests. Forty-eight hours after the 4th injection, half of the animals of each group (n = 7) were perfused and submitted to immunohistochemical analysis for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). The remaining animals (n = 7 per group) were killed 48 h after the 10th injection. RES group presented motor deficits in the catalepsy and open field tests starting at days 12 and 20 of treatment, respectively (only for the animals that received 10 injections). On the other hand, dynamic and static balance changes were observed at earlier stages of RES treatment, starting at days 6 and 4, respectively. At this point of the treatment, there was no decrease in the number of TH immunoreactivity neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), ventral tegmental area (VTA) and dorsal striatum (DS). However, a decrease was observed in SNpc and dorsal striatum of animals that received 10 injections. In contrast, there was a decrease in the number of ChAT immunoreactive cells in PPN concomitantly to the balance alterations at the early stages of treatment (after 4 RES injections). Thus, by mimicking the progressiveness of PD, the reserpine model made it possible to identify static and dynamic balance impairments prior to the motor alterations in the catalepsy and open field tests. In addition, changes in balance were accompanied by a reduction in the number of ChAT immunoreactive cells in NPP in the early stages of treatment.

Depressant effect of geraniol on the central nervous system of rats: Behavior and ECoG power spectra.

Geraniol is a monoterpene alcohol that is derived from the essential oils of aromatic plants, with anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant and neuroprotective properties. This study characterized the effect of geraniol on behavior and brainwave patterns in rats. Male rats were submitted to administration of geraniol (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg). The hole board (HB) and open field (OF) tests were performed to evaluate anxiety and motor behavior, respectively. In addition, barbiturate-induced sleeping time (BIST) was used to analyze sedative effect. Finally, electrocorticogram (ECoG) recordings were used to characterize brain-wave patterns. The results showed that geraniol treatment in rats decreased the distance traveled, rearing numbers and lead to increase in immobility time in HB and OF tests. In BIST test, geraniol treatment increased sleep duration but not sleep latency in the animals. Furthermore, geraniol-treated animals demonstrated an increase in the percentage of delta waves in the total spectrum power. Taken together, our results suggested that geraniol exerted a depressant effect on the central nervous system of rats.

Antiobesity effects of yerba maté extract (Ilex paraguariensis) in high-fat diet-induced obese mice.

Because the potential of yerba maté (Ilex paraguariensis) has been suggested in the management of obesity, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of yerba maté extract on weight loss, obesity-related biochemical parameters, and the regulation of adipose tissue gene expression in high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice. Thirty animals were randomly assigned to three groups. The mice were introduced to standard or high-fat diets. After 12 weeks on a high-fat diet, mice were randomly assigned according to the treatment (water or yerba maté extract 1.0 g/kg). After treatment intervention, plasma concentrations of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and glucose were evaluated. Adipose tissue was examined to determine the mRNA levels of several genes such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), leptin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-C motif chemokine ligand-2 (CCL2), CCL receptor-2 (CCR2), angiotensinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), adiponectin, resistin, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma(2) (PPAR-gamma(2)), uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1), and PPAR-gamma coactivator-1 alpha (PGC-1 alpha). The F4/80 levels were determined by immunoblotting. We found that obese mice treated with yerba maté exhibited marked attenuation of weight gain, adiposity, a decrease in epididymal fat-pad weight, and restoration of the serum levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and glucose. The gene and protein expression levels were directly regulated by the high-fat diet. After treatment with yerba maté extract, we observed a recovery of the expression levels. In conclusion, our data show that yerba maté extract has potent antiobesity activity in vivo. Additionally, we observed that the treatment had a modulatory effect on the expression of several genes related to obesity.