Estudo comportamental e neuroquímico em ratos periadolescentes submetidos ao tratamento agudo e subcrônico com efavirenz

• Ano de defesa: 2011
• Autor(a) principal: Cavalcante, Giuliana Ignácio Teixeira
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Palavras-chave em Português: Transtornos Mentais; Sistema Nervoso Central; Efeitos Adversos
• Link de acesso: http://www.repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/15655

Antiretroviral therapy has revolutionized the treatment of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) because it improved the clinical status of these patients. It is essential that at least one of the drugs used and in this therapy cross the blood-brain barrier, since HIV reaches the central nervous system (CNS), causing damage. Efavirenz is an antiretroviral widely used in HIV and able to cross the blood-brain barrier. However, patients treated with efavirenz are presenting neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, mania, suicidal thoughts, psychosis and hallucinations. Based on these facts, this study aimed to assess whether the behavioral changes anxiety, depression and seizures induced by pilocarpine occur in animals treated with efavirenz with a single dose and for a period of 15 days, using standard models of animal behavior as well as check if the treatment with drug can cause changes in monoamines and amino acids. We used male Wistar rats (35 days, n = 6-8). The animals were treated once with efavirenz in the case of an acute treatment, or 15 days for a subchronic treatment. The treated animals and controls were tested for behavioral elevated plus maze (Plus Maze), Forced Swim, Open Field and seizure induced by pilocarpine. To assess neurochemistry, mice were sacrificed and the brain was removed for the analysis of the following areas of interest: striatum, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Were measured monoamines and their metabolites, amino acids and the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA). The results showed that efavirenz caused anxiety and motor abnormalities similar to psychogenic drugs in behavioral tests after acute administration, caused depression in the behavioral test after subchronic treatment, had no effect on the latency of convulsion, altered monoamine metabolites and increased levels MDA. Thus, it is conclude that efavirenz, according to this study, promotes neurochemical changes in the central nervous system, causing neuropsychiatric disorders.