Phytochemical analysis and investigation of analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antispasmodic activities of hydroethanolic extracts of Alternanthera dentata, Ocimum carnosum, and Plectranthus barbatus, three species with vernacular names derived from analgesic drugs.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Plant vernacular names can provide clues about the popular use of a species in different regions and are valuable sources of information about the culture or vocabulary of a population. Several medicinal plants in Brazil have received names of medicines and brand-name products.

Aim Of The Study: The present work aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and pharmacological activity in the central nervous system of three species known popularly by brand names of analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and digestive drugs.

Behavioral Pharmacology of Five Uncommon Species Indicates Sedative and Anxiolytic-like Potential.

Background: There are over 500 species in the Passiflora genus, and while some of them are very well known in folk medicine for their anxiolytic effects, very little is known for the other genus representants, which could also present medicinal effects.

Objective: In this study, we performed an interspecific pharmacological comparison of five investigated Passiflora species, all native to Brazil, namely P. bahiensis, P.

Ayahuasca blocks ethanol preference in an animal model of dependence and shows no acute toxicity.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Ayahuasca, a psychoactive beverage prepared from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, is originally used by Amazon-based indigenous and mestizo groups for medicinal and ritualistic purposes. Nowadays, ayahuasca is used in religious and shamanic contexts worldwide, and preliminary evidence from preclinical and observational studies suggests therapeutic effects of ayahuasca for the treatment of substance (including alcohol) use disorders.

Aim Of The Study: To investigate the initial pharmacological profile of ayahuasca and its effects on ethanol rewarding effect using the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm in mice.

Green coffee extract attenuates Parkinson's-related behaviors in animal models.

Epidemiological studies have shown an inverse association between coffee consumption and the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). The effects of the oral treatment with green (non-roasted) coffee extracts (CE, 100 or 400 mg/kg) and caffeine (31.2 mg/kg) were evaluated on catalepsy induced by haloperidol in mice, and unilateral 6-OHDA lesion of medial forebrain bundle (MFB) or striatum in rats.

From an Alternative Medicine to a New Treatment for Refractory Epilepsies: Can Cannabidiol Follow the Same Path to Treat Neuropsychiatric Disorders?

Although cannabis has been known for ages as an "alternative medicine" to provide relief from seizures, pain, anxiety, and inflammation, there had always been a limited scientific review to prove and establish its use in clinics. Early studies carried out by Carlini's group in Brazil suggested that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid present in , has anticonvulsant properties in animal models and reduced seizure frequency in limited human trials. Over the past few years, the potential use of cannabis extract in refractory epilepsy, including childhood epilepsies such as Dravet's syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, has opened a new era of treating epileptic patients.

Pharmacological and Toxicological Study of Maytenus ilicifolia Leaf Extract. Part I - Preclinical Studies.

One of the Brazilians medicinal plants most cited in ethnopharmacological surveys for the treatment of ulcers and gastric diseases was evaluated for its efficacy and toxicity. Maytenus ilicifolia leaf extract (MIE) was acutely and chronically (180 days) administered to rats, mice, and dogs. Acute tests were antiulcer effect and toxicological trials (observational pharmacological screening, LD50, motor coordination, sleeping time and motor activity).

The association of psychiatric symptomatology with patterns of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use among Brazilian high school students.

Background And Objectives: Studies have highlighted psychosocial factors associated with drug use among adolescents. Association of specific psychiatric comorbidity with substance use has not been properly established in Brazil. This study aimed to investigate alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use by 15-18-year-old high school Brazilian students and to estimate associations with psychiatric symptoms.

Phytochemical analysis of hydroethanolic extract of Turnera diffusa Willd and evaluation of its effects on astrocyte cell death.

Objective: To evaluate the phytochemical composition of hydroethanolic extracts from powdered aerial parts of Turnera diffusa Willd (Turneraceae; T. diffusa), as well as its toxicity in astrocytes.

Methods: Chemical analyses of hydroethanolic extract from powdered aerial parts ofT.

Trends in alcohol and tobacco use among Brazilian students: 1989 to 2010.

OBJECTIVE To analyze temporal trends of the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco use among Brazilian students.METHODS We analyzed data published between 1989 and 2010 from five epidemiological surveys on students from the 6th to the 12th grade of public schools from the ten largest state capitals of Brazil. The total sample consisted of 104,104 students and data were collected in classrooms.

Phyllanthus amarus does not affect hypernociception in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. Chronic pain is one of the main symptoms, affecting many patients. Studies show that the lignans or the apolar extracts of Phyllanthus amarus have antinociceptive effects in different animal models.

Effects of Panax ginseng, Turnera diffusa and Heteropterys tomentosa extracts on hippocampal apoptosis of aged rats.

Objective: To verify if the medicinal plants Panax ginseng C.A. Mey, Turnera diffusa Willd.

Sexual behavior among high school students in Brazil: alcohol consumption and legal and illegal drug use associated with unprotected sex.

Objective: Alcohol and other drug use appears to reduce decision-making ability and increase the risk of unsafe sex, leading to possible unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases/human immunodeficiency virus/HIV transmission, and multiple sexual partners. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that risky sexual behaviors among adolescents are associated with legal and illegal drug use.

Methods: A national cross-sectional survey of 17,371 high-school students was conducted in 2010.

Childhood alcohol use may predict adolescent binge drinking: a multivariate analysis among adolescents in Brazil.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that first alcohol use during childhood is associated with heavy drinking patterns during adolescence and with parental drinking patterns and parental rules about alcohol consumption.

Study Design: A national cross-sectional survey of 17,371 high-school students. Students were drawn from 789 public and private schools in all the Brazilian state capitals using a multistage probabilistic sampling method and a self-report questionnaire.

Comparison of the chemical composition and biological effects of the roots, branches and leaves of Heteropterys tomentosa A. Juss.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: HETEROPTERYS TOMENTOSA: A. Juss (Malpighiaceae), commonly mistaken as Heteropterys aphrodisiaca, is chronically used by the Brazilian population to improve general health due to its claimed protective effects against a wide range of medical conditions.

Aim Of The Study: This study in rodents aimed to verify the adaptogenic potential of the hydroalcoholic extracts of the roots (the most commonly used portion), branches and leaves of the plant.

Assessment of the toxicity of the Brazilian pepper trees Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Aroeira-da-praia) and Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão (Aroeira-do-sertão).

The present study aimed to assess the preclinical toxicity of two plants commonly used to treat "stomach ailments" in Brazil: Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (S) and Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão (M). In male rats, chronic treatment (83 days) with both pepper trees (17.6 and 13.

Random sample survey on the prevalence of smoking in the major cities of Brazil.

Objective: To provide access to the results of a randomized cross-sectional study conducted by the Brazilian Center for Information on Psychotropic Drugs in 2001.

Methods: This survey involved a random sample of individuals ranging from 12 to 65 years of age and residing in the 107 largest cities (over 200,000 inhabitants) in Brazil, which represented 27.7% of the Brazilian population, estimated to be 169,799,170 inhabitants at the time.

Recreational use of benzydamine as a hallucinogen among street youth in Brazil.

Objective: To describe the recreational use of benzydamine, an anti-inflammatory drug, among street youth in Brazil.

Design: a descriptive, cross sectional survey.

Setting: 93 welfare services for the street youth in 27 Brazilian capitals.

Antinociceptive peripheral effect of Achillea millefolium L. and Artemisia vulgaris L.: both plants known popularly by brand names of analgesic drugs.

The hydroalcohol extracts of Achillea millefolium L. (AM) and Artemisia vulgaris L. (AV), both belonging to the Asteraceae family, were evaluated by the hot plate, writhing, formalin and intestinal transit tests in an attempt to confirm their folk use as analgesic, antiinflammatory and antispasmodic agents.

Brazilian plants as possible adaptogens: an ethnopharmacological survey of books edited in Brazil.

In a survey, from Brazilian books, we searched plants that are in popular use for purposes resembling those of an adaptogen. This study focused on 24 books by authors from diverse regions in the country, resulting in a total of 1317 citations of uses related to a possible adaptogen effect from approximately 766 plants. Only species native to Brazil, cited in at least four books, were selected, resulting a total of 33 species, belonging to 24 families.

Psychoactive drug advertising: a comparison of technical information from three countries: Brazil, United States and United Kingdom.

Context And Objective: Studies carried out in the 1970s and 1980s showed that there were country-dependent disparities in the information given for the same drug in medical advertisements. National and international regulations have been published to do away with such disparities and to foster the rational use of drugs. The purpose of this study was to compare the information contained in psychoactive drug advertisements published in psychiatric journals in Brazil, the United States and the United Kingdom, before and subsequent to the publication of the United States Export Act, in 1986, the WHO criteria, in 1988, and the Brazilian Sanitary Surveillance Agency Resolution no.

Use of anorectic amphetamine-like drugs by Brazilian women.

The history of anorectic drug use was investigated in 2370 subjects in São Paulo and Brasília cities. Socio-demographic data and the number of previous treatments to lose weight were obtained. When the last treatment was drug-based, the substance(s) used, its duration, the occurrence of adverse reactions, and whether it was adequate were studied.

Influence of the legislation on the advertisement of psychoactive medications in Brazil.

Objective: The regulations on the advertisement of medications aim to encourage and promote an improved health care and the rational use of medications. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the influence of three regulations on the advertisement of medications: the "Export act", published in the United States in 1986; the "WHO's Criteria", published in 1988, and the Resolution 102/2000 of the Collegiate Board of Directors of the ANVISA (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária- Brazilian Sanitary Surveillance Agency), on the advertisement of psychoactive medications.

Method: We collected advertisements that were published in Brazilian psychiatric journals before and after the regulations were established.