Vanin, Ana Paula, dos Santos, Amanda, Sutorillo, Nathalia Tafarel, Barcellos, Leonardo Jose Gill, Santini, Wallace, Alves, Carla, Tamagno, Wagner Antonio, Kaizer Perin, Rosilene Rodrigues
[
International Worm Meeting,
2021]
The growing consumption of psychoactive drugs, including antidepressants and antipsychotics, along with the low levels of total metabolization of these drugs, are increasing their residues in the environment. After being used, the drugs are metabolized and excreted, sometimes still in their active form, and may or may not suffer degradation when in contact with the environment. Thus, these psychoactive drugs can reach the aquatic environment and affect non-target organisms, such as zebrafish (Danio rerio) and Caenorhabditis elegans, in their natural environments. Our main hypothesis is that venlafaxine (VEN), a drug that works with the selective inhibition of the reuptake of noradrenaline and serotonin, can exert effects on the endocrine and behavioral system of zebrafish and toxicological effects on the behavior and nervous system of C. elegans. The integrity of the natural behavioral repertoire is vital for the maintenance of the species, reinforcing the importance of studies that show the potential of drugs in altering these models. Here we evaluate acute exposure to VEN, in three concentrations followed by a behavioral assessment. The behavior of C. elegans was analyzed by the body bands, pharyngeal beat, and defecation cycle; while the biochemical analyzes of the enzyme Acetylcholinesterase to assess the toxicological effects of VEN on the nervous system. We have shown that the nematode C. elegans resists changes in behavior and the nervous system. Thus, this model response was not a clear indicator of water contamination and possible zebrafish effects, probably because of the cuticle and natural behavior of the nematode. Results with zebrafish exposure to VEN have shown changes in the novel tank test, mainly the robust anxiolytic-like pattern, suggesting that VEN may be more dangerous to species conservation, since fish presenting an anxiolytic-like behavior becomes more susceptible to predation. We are working on biomarkers to study differences in the responses to these models when exposed at VEN.
Tamagno, Wagner Antoino, Sutorillo, Nathalia Tafarel, Alves, Carla, dos Santos, Amanda, Kaizer, Rosilene Rodrigues, Barcellos, Leonardo Jose Gill, Santini, Wallace, Vanin, Ana Paula
[
International Worm Meeting,
2021]
Copper is an essential metal and is important in general metabolism. However, in high concentrations, it becomes toxic to the organism. The metal-induced toxicity is linked to many neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, occurring in senile aging. To prevent neurodegenerative diseases, some studies are being developed to find ways of healthy aging. Natural compounds and diets based on fruits are increasing. Dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) is a tropical and Latin American fruit that is gaining more popularity due to its antioxidant properties. This fruit still has low popularity, since its planting and large-scale commercialization are recent. Here we evaluate the protective and reparative effect of different doses of dragon fruit's microencapsulated pulp extract on copper-induced toxicity. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans was used as a model, to research the effects of pitaya extract on the Cholinergic nervous system, behavior, lipidic peroxidation, and chaperon system. We observed that Cu severally increased directly the cholinesterase, chaperone, and peroxidation rates. When pitaya is applied, even to prevent or remediate, all those enzymes' rates are normalized again. Overall, the results have shown that the pulp fruit extract can be used on dietary supplementation to prevent and repair neural damage. The extract was able to regulates the chaperone system to reduce expression of heat shock protein (16.2) and reestablished the AChE levels avoiding lipidic peroxidation. Changes in the behavior, decreasing cell death biomarkers, and lipidic peroxidation caused by copper toxicity are showing, and, based on these results, we concluded that the pitaya fruit has an important role in gerontological issues.