Navegando por Autor "Almeida, Carolina Aparecida de Faria"

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Ayahuasca, a psychedelic beverage, modulates neuroplasticity induced by ethanol in mice.
(2022) Almeida, Carolina Aparecida de Faria; Pereira Júnior, Antônio Alves; Rangel, Jéssica Gonçalves; Pereira, Bruna Pinheiro; Costa, Karla Cristinne Mancini; Bruno, Vitor; Silveira, Gabriela Oliveira; Ceron, Carla Speroni; Yonamine, Mauricio; Camarini, Rosana; Garcia, Raphael Caio Tamborelli; Marcourakis, Tania; Torres, Larissa Helena
Alcohol use disorder needs more effective treatments because relapse rates remain high. Psychedelics, such as ayahuasca, have been used to treat substance use disorders. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of ayahuasca on ethanol-induced behavioral sensitization (EIBS). Swiss mice received 2.2 g/kg ethanol or saline IP injections every other day across nine days (D1, D3, D5, D7, and D9), and locomotor activity was evaluated 10 min after each injection. Then, animals were treated daily with ayahuasca (corresponding to 1.76 mg/kg of N,N- dimethyltryptamine, DMT) or water by oral gavage for eight consecutive days. On the seventh day, mice were evaluated in the elevated plus maze. Then, mice were challenged with a single dose of ethanol to measure their locomotor activity. Dopamine receptors, serotonin receptors, dynorphin, and prodynorphin levels were quanti- fied in the striatum and hippocampus by blot analysis. Repeated ethanol administration resulted in EIBS. However, those animals treated with ayahuasca had an attenuated EIBS. Moreover, ayahuasca reduced the anxiogenic response to ethanol withdrawal and prevented the ethanol-induced changes on 5-HT1a receptor and prodynorphin levels in the hippocampus and reduced ethanol effects in the dynorphin/prodynorphin ratio levels in the striatum. These results suggest a potential application of ayahuasca to modulate the neuroplastic changes induced by ethanol.
Nicotine exposure through breastfeeding affects brainderived neurotrophic factor and synaptic proteins levels in the brain of stressed adult female mice.
(2022) Pereira Júnior, Antonio Alves; Amorim, Gabriel Estevam Santos de; Garcia, Raphael Caio Tamborelli; Ribeiro, Jessyca Milene; Silva, Alessandra Oliveira; Almeida, Carolina Aparecida de Faria; Ceron, Carla Speroni; Ruginsk, Silvia Graciela; Rodrigues, José Antunes; Elias, Lucila Leico Kagohara; Dias, Marcos Vinícios Salles; Marcourakis, Tania; Torres, Larissa Helena
Nicotine has been used during pregnancy and lactation as a tobacco harm reduction strategy. However, it is unclear whether nicotine exposure during a critical development period negatively impacts stress responses in adulthood. This study investigated how nicotine, administered via breastfeeding, affects the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), synaptic proteins levels, and anxiety-like behavior in adult female mice subjected to stress. Female Swiss mice were exposed to saline or nicotine (8 mg/kg/day) through breastfeeding between their fourth and 17th postnatal days (P) via implanted osmotic mini pumps. The unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) protocol was performed during their adulthood (P65) for 10 consecutive days, followed by the elevated plus maze (EPM) test 1 day after the protocol. Animals were euthanized and their blood, collected for plasma corticosterone measurements and their brain structures, dissected for BDNF and synaptic proteins analyses. We found no significant differences in corticosterone levels between groups (Saline/Nonstress, Nicotine/Non-stress, Saline/Stress, and Nicotine/Stress). The UCMS protocol hindered weight gain. Mice exposed to nicotine through breastfeeding with or without the UCMS protocol in adulthood showed higher grooming and head dipping frequency; decreased BDNF levels in cerebellum and striatum; increased postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95), synapsin I, and synaptophysin levels in cerebellum; and decreased PSD-95 and synapsin I levels in brainstem. Our results indicate that nicotine exposure through breastfeeding leads to long-lasting behavioral effects and synaptic protein changes, most of which were independent of the UCMS protocol, even after a long nicotine-free period, highlighting the importance of further studies on nicotine exposure during development.
No effect of prior Dengue virus 1 infection in mouse dams on long-term behavioral profiles in offspring infected with Zika virus during gestation.
(2020) Costa, Karla Cristinne Mancini; Brancaglion, Gustavo Andrade; Almeida, Carolina Aparecida de Faria; Amorim, Gabriel Estevam Santos de; Veloso, Luciana Lopes; Lião, Lucas da Silva; Souza, Gabriel Augusto Pires de; Pereira, Bruna Pinheiro; Angelo, Marilene Lopes; Ruginsk, Silvia Graciela; Brandão, Wesley Nogueira; Marcourakis, Tania; Ceron, Carla Speroni; Coelho, Luiz Felipe Leomil; Torres, Larissa Helena
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne Flavivirus structurally and antigenically related to Dengue virus (DENV). Zika virus has been associated with congenital anomalies and most ZIKV outbreaks have occurred in endemic areas of DENV. The present study investigated the effects of prior DENV serotype 1 (DENV1) immunity in immunocompetent female Swiss mice on gestational ZIKV infection in offspring. Physical/reflex development, locomotor activity, anxiety, visual acuity, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels were evaluated in offspring during infancy and adolescence. Anti-DENV1 and anti-ZIKV antibodies were detected in sera of the progenitors, whereas no ZIKV genomes were detected in the offspring brain. Pups from dams with only DENV1 immunity presented alterations of physical/reflex development. Pups from all infected dams exhibited time- related impairments in locomotor activity and anxiolytic-like behavior. Offspring from DENV/ZIKV-infected dams exhibited impairments in visual acuity during infancy but not during adolescence, which was consistent with morphometric analysis of the optic nerve. Pups from DENV1-, ZIKV-, and DENV/ZIKV-infected dams exhibited a decrease in BDNF levels during infancy and an increase during adolescence in distinct brain regions. In summary, we found no influence of prior DENV1 immunity on gestational ZIKV infection in offspring, with the exception of alterations of early visual parameters, and an increase in BDNF levels in the hippocampus during adolescence.