Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Artigo Acesso aberto Produção Nacional Revisado por pares

BIBTEX RIS

Potential behavioral and pro-oxidant effects of Petiveria alliacea L. extract in adult rats

2012; Elsevier BV; Volume: 143; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jep.2012.07.020

1872-7573

Thaís Montenegro de Andrade, Ademar Soares Melo, Rui Guilherme Cardoso Dias, Everton Luiz Pompeu Varela, Fábio Rodrigues de Oliveira, José Luís Fernandes Vieira, Marcieni Ataíde de Andrade, Ana Cristina Baetas Gonçalves, Marta Chagas Monteiro, Cristiane do Socorro Ferraz Maia,

Garlic and Onion Studies

Petiveria alliacea (Phytolaccaceae) is a perennial shrub indigenous to the Amazon Rainforest and tropical areas of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa. In folk medicine, Petiveria alliacea has a broad range of therapeutic properties; however, it is also associated with toxic effects. The present study evaluated the putative effects of Petiveria alliacea on the central nervous system, including locomotor activity, anxiety, depression-like behavior, and memory, and oxidative stress. Two-month-old male and female Wistar rats (n=7–10 rats/group) were administered with 900 mg/kg of hydroalcoholic extracts of Petiveria alliacea L. The behavioral assays included open-field, forced swimming, and elevated T-maze tests. The oxidative stress levels were measured in rat blood samples after behavioral assays and methemoglobin levels were measured in vitro. Consistent with previous reports, Petiveria alliacea increased locomotor activity. It also exerted previously unreported anxiolytic and antidepressant effects in behavioral tests. In the oxidative stress assays, the Petiveria alliacea extract decreased Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity levels and increased methemoglobin levels, which was related to the toxic effects. The Petiveria alliacea extract exerted motor stimulatory and anxiolytic effects in the OF test, antidepressant effects in the FS test, and elicited memory improvement in ETM. Furthermore, the Petiveria alliacea extract also exerted pro-oxidant effects in vitro and in vivo, inhibiting the antioxidant status and increasing MetHb levels in human plasma, respectively.