Phytotherapy and the new paradigm of drugs mode of action.

La farmacología ha sido refractaria a las contribuciones del etnofarmacología en términos de paradigmas para el uso de las drogas o el modo de acción. Los patrones complejos encontrados a menudo en evaluaciones de los extractos de plantas medicinales, sugieren que los efectos de las drogas vegetales se pueden fundamentar a menudo en bases farmacodinámicas más complejas que las relaciones droga/ efecto más usuales. Las características farmacológicas de las hierbas pueden resultar de varios ingredientes activos, de las interacciones entre éstos, o de ingredientes que poseen múltiples mecanismos de acción. Este artículo se centra en la psicofarmacología de las hierbas a la luz de nuevos paradigmas de la acción drogas psicotrópicas. Se sugiere que la comprensión de conceptos y de prácticas médicos tradicionales puede conducir al desarrollo innovador de las drogas

Remembering Darrell Posey´s Contribution to Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology

The main purpose of this article is to provide an account of Darrell Posey’s academic life, from a north-American undergraduate student interested in entomology into one of the main figures and builders of Ethnobiology and major advocate of Indigenous Peoples ‘rights around the world. This short biography highlights his relations with the Kayapó indigenous people and his role in coordinating a decade-long interdisciplinary ethnobiology research project named “The Kayapó Project”. It was mostly through the development of this team effort that he contributed fundamental and long-lasting theoretical, methodological and practical advancements to the field of ethnobiology.

Efeito ansiolítico de umbelatina

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Melatonin and depression : a translational perspective from animal models to clinical studies

Daily rhythm of melatonin synchronizes the body to the light/dark environmental cycle. Several hypotheses have been raised to understand the intersections between melatonin and depression, in which changes in rest-activity and sleep patterns are prominent. This review describes key experimental and clinical evidence that link melatonin with the etiopathology and symptomatology of depressive states, its role in the follow up of therapeutic response to antidepressants, as well as the clinical evidence of melatonin as MDD treatment. Melatonin, as an internal temporal cue contributing to circadian organization and best studied in the context of circadian misalignment, is also implicated in neuroplasticity. The monoaminergic systems that underly MDD and melatonin production overlap. In addition, the urinary metabolite 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6) has been proposed as biomarker for antidepressant responders, by revealing whether the blockage of noradrenaline uptake has taken place within 24 h from the first antidepressant dose. Even though animal models show benefits from melatonin supplementation on depressive-like behavior, clinical evidence is inconsistent vis-à-vis prophylactic or therapeutic benefits of melatonin or melatonin agonists in depression. We argue that the study of melatonin in MDD or other psychiatric disorders must take into account the specificities of melatonin as an integrating molecule, inextricably linked to entrainment, metabolism, immunity, neurotransmission, and cell homeostasis

Guanosine fast onset antidepressant-like effects in the olfactory bulbectomy mice model

The treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) is still a challenge. In the search for novel antidepressants, glutamatergic neuromodulators have been investigated as possible fast-acting antidepressants. Innovative studies suggest that the purine cycle and/or the purinergic signaling can be dysregulated in MDD, and the endogenous nucleoside guanosine has gained attention due to its extracellular effects. This study aimed to verify if guanosine produces fast-onset effects in the wellvalidated, reliable and sensitive olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) model of depression. The involvement of the mTOR pathway, a key target for the fast-onset effect of ketamine, was also investigated. Results show that a single i.p. injection of guanosine, or ketamine, completely reversed the OBX-induced anhedonic-like behavior 24 or 48 h post treatment, as well as the short-term recognition memory impairment 48 h post treatment. The antidepressant-like effects of guanosine and ketamine were completely abolished by rapamycin. This study shows, for the first time, that guanosine, in a way similar to ketamine, is able to elicit a fast antidepressant response in the OBX model in mice. The results support the notion that guanosine represents a new road for therapeutic improvement in MDD

Etnofarmacologia das espécies medicinais usadas no município de Maquiné

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Efeitos antinociceptivos do alopurinol no modelo de dor induzida por capsaicina em camundongos

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Atividade do alcalóide umbelatina nos testes de formalina e capsaicina

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