Ayahuasca no tratamento da farmacodependência à cocaína: possíveis intervenções terapêuticas?
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Psychedelics (PSY) are psychoactive substances that do not induce the individual to addiction, have a higher use safety profile when compared to other drugs and low ability to cause tolerance to use.Recent studies propose the use of PSY as a treatment for some diseases and disorders related to the central nervous system, such as depression, anxiety and addiction.Among the PSY, ayahuasca (AYA), whose active component is dimethyltryptamine (DMT), is a psychoactive drink widely used by indigenous populations in religious rituals.There is evidence that it may be effective in treating alcohol and nicotine addiction.However, for cocaine, the second most widely used illicit drug in Brazil and Europe, there are not many studies.The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of AYA in preventing cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization (BS) expression and the neurochemical repercussions of this treatment in C57Bl/6 mice.Thus, we evaluated the influence of acute administration of AYA (1.76; 3.0; 17.6; 30.0 mg/kg of DMT, orally) on the locomotor activity of animals in the open field (OF).As there was no statistical difference in the distance travelled during the analysis, the two lowest doses (1.76 and 3.0 mg/kg of DMT, orally) were chosen as initial doses to perform the cocaine-induced expression prevention protocol.First, animals were habituated to OF for 3 consecutive days following administration of saline 0.9% i.p.On the fourth experimental day, the animals received for 10 alternate days cocaine 10 mg/kg or saline 0,9% i.p. and were directly submitted to the evaluation of locomotor activity in OF for 30 minutes.Twenty-four hours later they received, for 8 consecutive days, water or AYA (1.76 or 3.0 mg/kg of DMT, orally), and 30 minutes after administration, they were placed in the OF for 30 minutes for analysis of locomotor activity.The next day, the mice were challenged with saline administration.On the last experimental day, a cocaine challenge was performed, always placing the animal in the OF for 30 minutes.At these doses, AYA was not effective in preventing cocaine-induced expression of BS.Thus, we evaluated higher doses of AYA (15, 30 and 45 mg/kg of DMT, orally), which were able to prevent the expression of cocaine-induced BS.Thus, the experimental protocol was again performed with the lowest dose (15 mg/kg of DMT, orally).At the end of the experimental protocol, the animals were euthanized and their prefrontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus were dissected for serotonergic receptor 5-HT 1A and 5-HT 2A by immunoblotting.However, no significant differences were observed when comparing receptor protein level in the experimental groups.Thus, these results suggest that AYA may be a good therapeutic strategy for cocaine addiction, paving the way for further studies.
Author: Vítor Bruno
Language: Portuguese
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W2995721006