Rhodiola rosea L. extract and its active compound salidroside antagonized both induction and reinstatement of nicotine place prefrerence in mice

Abstract RATIONALE: Conventional pharmacological treatments for drug addiction aim to reduce three most important aspects: withdrawal syndrome, craving, and relapse. Pharmacological treatments currently available for the treatment of tobacco smoking are able to alleviate withdrawal symptoms but are not sufficiently effective in reducing craving and rarely effective to prevent relapse. Rhodiola rosea L., a well-known traditional oriental medicine with anxiolytic, antidepressive, antistress, and adaptogenic properties, has been recently shown to be effective in the prevention and treatment of nicotine-withdrawal symptoms. OBJECTIVES: The present study used the conditioned place preference (CPP) model to systematically investigate, in mice, the effects of a R. rosea L. extract (RHO) and its active compound salidroside (SDS), on the reinforcing properties of nicotine and their efficacy in the vulnerability to reinstatement. METHODS: To study the effects on the rewarding properties of nicotine, RHO (10, 15, and 20 mg/kg) and SDS (0.2 mg/kg) were tested both in the acquisition and expression of CPP induced by nicotine injection (0.5 mg/kg). Moreover, the efficacy of RHO and SDS in preventing relapse induced by nicotine priming (0.1 mg/kg, s.c.) and by restraint stress was also evaluated. RESULTS: Results showed the ability of RHO and salidroside to significantly reduce the rewarding properties of nicotine at all doses tested. RHO and SDS also suppressed both priming- and stress-induced reinstatement of CPP. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed the positive effects of R. rosea L. in reducing rewarding properties and preventing relapse to nicotine and evidenced the important role of salidroside in the effects of the extract

Effects of Brugmansia arborea Extract and Its Secondary Metabolites on Morphine Tolerance and Dependence in Mice

The aim of the present study was to investigate, in vivo, the effect of a Brugmansia arborea extract (BRU), chromatographic fractions (FA and FNA), and isolated alkaloids on the expression and the acquisition of morphine tolerance and dependence. Substances were acutely (for expression) or repeatedly (for acquisition) administered in mice treated with morphine twice daily for 5 or 6 days, in order to make them tolerant or dependent. Morphine tolerance was assessed using the tail-flick test at 1st and 5th days. Morphine dependence was evaluated through the manifestation of withdrawal symptoms induced by naloxone injection at 6th day. Results showed that BRU significantly reduced the expression of morphine tolerance, while it was ineffective to modulate its acquisition. Chromatographic fractions and pure alkaloids failed to reduce morphine tolerance. Conversely BRU, FA, and pure alkaloids administrations significantly attenuated both development and expression of morphine dependence. These data suggest that Brugmansia arborea Lagerh might have human therapeutic potential for treatment of opioid addiction

Misogynoir: Public Online Response Towards Self-Reported Misogynoir

“Misogynoir” refers to the specific forms of misogyny that Black women experience, which couple racism and sexism together. To better understand the online manifestations of this type of hate, and to propose methods that can automatically identify it, in this paper, we conduct a study on 4 cases of Black women in Tech reporting experiences of misogynoir on the Twitter platform. We follow the reactions to these cases (both supportive and non-supportive responses) and categorise them within a model of misogynoir that highlights experiences of Tone Policing, White Centring, Racial Gaslighting and Defensiveness. As an intersectional form of abusive or hateful speech, we investigate the possibilities and challenges to detect online instances of misogynoir in an automated way. We then conduct a closer qualitative analysis on messages of support and non-support to look at some of these categories in more detail. The purpose of this investigation is to understand responses to misogynoir online, including doubling down on misogynoir, engaging in performative allyship, and showing solidarity with Black women in tech

Misogynoir: Challenges in Detecting Intersectional Hate

"Misogynoir" is a term that refers to the anti-Black forms of misogyny that Black women experience. To explore how current automated hate speech detection approaches perform in detecting this type of hate, we evaluated the performance of two state-of-the-art detection tools, HateSonar and Google's Perspective API, on a balanced dataset of 300 tweets, half of which are examples of misogynoir and half of which are examples of supporting Black women and an imbalanced dataset of 3138 tweets of which 162 tweets are examples of misogynoir and 2976 tweets are examples of allyship tweets. We aim to determine if these tools flag these messages under any of their classifications of hateful speech (e.g. "hate speech'', "offensive language", "toxicity'' etc.). Close analysis of the classifications and errors shows that current hate speech detection tools are ineffective in detecting misogynoir. They lack sensitivity to context, which is an essential component for misogynoir detection. We found that tweets likely to be classified as hate speech explicitly reference racism or sexism or use profane or aggressive words. Subtle tweets without references to these topics are more challenging to classify. We find that the lack of sensitivity to context may make such tools not only ineffective but potentially harmful to Black women

Ursolic acid and luteolin-7-glucoside improves rat plasma lipid profile and increases liver glycogen content through glycogen synthase kinase-3

In the present study, two phytochemicals - ursolic acid (UA) and luteolin-7-glucoside (L7G) - were assessed in vivo in healthy rats regarding effects on plasma glucose and lipid profile (total cholesterol, HDL and LDL), as well as liver glycogen content, in view of their importance in the aetiology of diabetes and associated complications. Both UA and L7G significantly decreased plasma glucose concentration. UA also significantly increased liver glycogen levels accompanied by phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3). The increase in glycogen deposition induced by UA (mediated by GSK3) could have contributed to the lower plasma glucose levels observed. Both compounds significantly lowered total plasma cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels, and, in addition, UA increased plasma high-density lipoprotein levels. Our results show that UA particularly may be useful in preventable strategies for people at risk of developing diabetes and associated cardiovascular complications by improving plasma glucose levels and lipid profile, as well as by promoting liver glycogen deposition.MFA and CMS were supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal, through the grants SFRH/BD/12527/2003 and SFRH/BD/42566/2007, respectively. This work was supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal, research grant POCI/AGR/62040/2004