EFECTOS DEL EXTRACTO HIDROALCOHÓLICO DE PASSIFLORA COERULEA COMO ANSIOLÍTICO Y ANTIDEPRESIVO EN TRATAMIENTO SUBCRÓNICO DE RATONES

DIAZ, MARCELA; CARLINI VP; CHIARINI FE; GARCÍA M; VERGARA DUVEAUX EF; BRIZUELA NY

Cordoba

Congreso; XX Jornada de Investigación Científica - FCM-UNC, 2019; 2019

FCM-UNC

The genus Passiflora is widely used in medicinal folklore for the treatment of different diseases. However, not all the species have been studied at the same way and between them there are different effects. Passiflora caerulea (P. caerulea) is in our country and it is consumed as a tea by the population mainly to treat anxiety. Previous studies showed the effect from isolated chrysin (a flavonoid which is in P. caerulea) as an anxiolytic and antidepressant. The possible effects of P. caerulea on depressive-like symptoms and its role as an alternative therapeutic tool for the treatment of depression have not been clarified yet.The aim of this study was to examine the antidepressant-like action of P. caerulea using the open-field test (OFT), and to investigate the possibility that P. caerulea could reverse some of the depressive-like behavior induced by bilateral olfactory bulbectomy in male mice.Swiss albino mice (N: NIH) with bilateral olfactory bulbectomy (BOB-animal depression model) were used in comparison to mice without extraction of olfactory bulbs (Sham, controls), N = 6-3 per group/treatment. The locomotors activity in OFT was evaluated with registers of central crossings behavior, peripheral crossings behavior and the rearing numbers before BOB surgery (basal conditions or preoperative period), 14 days after the surgery (postoperative period) and after 5 days of oral administration (gavage) of passionflower (10mg/kg) in the open-field test (post-treatment period). The data were analysed by two-way ANOVA followed by an LSD test.The results show that BOB induces an increment in the locomotor activity comparing with SHAM animals and that sub-chronic treatment with P. caerulea in bulbectomized animals (BO) decreased locomotors activity in relation to BO - saline animals (p≤0.05) as similar as Sham-saline values. No significant differences were observed in Sham animals treated with P. coerulea with respect to Sham - saline (p≤0.05In conclusion, this study provides new evidence about the effects of P. caerulea in a depression animal model, where P. caerulea managed to reverse the hyperactivity characteristic of BO animals.