Potenciais efeitos de frutos de Eugenia uniflora na prevenção de alterações neuroquímicas e comportamentais em modelo animal de estresse crônico imprevisível

Abstract

Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders, and depression is a relatively common psychiatric disorder associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Despite the large number of pharmacological treatments, the success rate of antidepressants is not greater than 50-60%. So, the objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of chronic administration of Eugenia uniflora fruit extract on behavioral parameters, oxidative stress markers and acetylcholinesterase activity in an animal model of depression induced by chronic unpredictable stress (CUS). Our results showed that E. uniflora treatment prevented the depressant-like effect induced by CUS. Additionally, the extract regulated the activity of acetylcholinesterase, reduced lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus from animals submitted to CUS protocol. This extract was able to prevent the reduction of antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase in the hippocampus. Total thiol content was decreased by CUS only in this cerebral structure and fruit extract was not able to block this alteration. However, no change was observed in the superoxide dismutase activity in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Taken together, our findings suggest a neuroprotective effect of E. uniflora by preventing the depressive-type behavior, oxidative damage and increased CUS-induced acetylcholinesterase activity. Furthermore, our data provide further evidence of the importance of acetylcholinesterase and oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of depression.