| Resumo: |
The abusive consume of alcohol has negative consequences to the organism and to the society, making it an important matter of public health. Since there is no satisfatory treatment, research on new and alternative treatments are needed. Ayahuasca is a tea made from a combination of two amazonic plants (nome das plantas). It has been used for thousands of years in religious context and it is popularly used for treatment of alcoholism. The present work evaluated the pharmacological effects of the tea (AYA) in preclinical dependence models. Active constituents were quantified and found at the same concentration as the literature. The oral administration of AYA did not induce death in mice. The pharmacological profile was established through preclinical tests: Initial pharmacological screening, motor activity test, motor coordination test, potentiating of the hexobarbital induced sleeping time. We did not find significant differences between control and treatment groups, attesting its safety in animals. Regarding to the ethanol (ETN) consumption in mice, it was not possible to evaluate the AYA effect, since the animals did not show any preference from ethanol at the free choice oral ethanol self-administration test. At the conditioned place preference test (PCL), the animals were divided in four groups: CTL, AYA, ETN and AYA+ETN. When comparing the time spent on the drugpaired (P) and unpaired (NP) compartments, PCL occurred in ETN and AYA groups, but CTL and AYA+ETN animals did not present this behavior. AYA did not show any toxic profile, depressant or stimulant effects. At the PCL test, previous AYA administration blocked the rewarding effect of ETN, but AYA by itself did not show any rewarding effects. Our results indicate that AYA using for alcoholism treatment can not be discarded, however new studies are needed to the fully understanding of its mechanisms. |
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