Effect of estradiol benzoate microinjection into the median raphe nucleus on contextual conditioning

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Anti-hypertensive drugs have different effects on ventricular hypertrophy regression

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Gregório de Matos: do barroco à antropofagia

The exponential figure of Gregório de Matos e Guerra has been subject of many theoretical discussions through the years, since his apparition in a public place, in the 19th century, and even more, during the 20th century, when he was salvaged by the modernist vanguard. As a result, there are yet two antagonist points of view linked to Gregório de Matos, on one side, there some researchers who defend him, on the other, some of them attack him. The first ones say this poet from Bahia was the first literary voice in Brazil, from the Baroque basis, while the last ones say he is a merely plagiarist of the Spanish poets from the 17th century, without a real contribution to the development of Brazilian Literature. With this in mind, this thesis follows the perspective this poet is an anthropophagus-baroque, devouring cultures, with an active participation in the process of our cultural and literary identity. For that reason, it was made a literature review about the biography of this poet trying to break romantic descriptions, emphasizing some scientific facts that can contribute to present the baroque profile of this poet. In this sense, it was discussed the History of Literature focused on this creole poet, mainly based on the historians point of view about the Gregorian poetry in the formation of Brazilian Literature scenery. In the defense of the hypothesis that Gregório de Matos was our first anthropophagus, this work aims to analyze how his poetry reveals the intrinsic characteristics of Baroque and Anthropophagy, focusing its carnivalesque aspect, showing to the world, with a satiric tone, the idiosyncrasies of human life. In this way, analyzing this corpus in Spanish is the strength of this thesis because, besides it is previously unpublished, it contributes to the comprehension of the anthropophagy as a theoretical mechanism that explains the process of formation of our cultural literary identity. Then, we have Augusto de Campos (1968; 1978; 1984; 1986; 1988), Haroldo de Campos (1976; 2010a; 2010b; 2011), Severo Sarduy ([1988?]), Oswald de Andrade (1945; 1978; 2006), Mikhail Bakhtin (2010), Octavio Paz (1979), Segismundo Spina (1980; 1995; 2008), Afrânio Coutinho (1986a; 1986b; 1994), Affonso Ávila (1994; 1997; 2004; 2008), among others, to constitute this theoretical scenery. The Gregorian poetry, in this way, have contributed to the formation of baroque-anthropophagic scenery in Brazilian boundaries, with a special attention to the transition of time, because he is not only from the 17th century, established by the historiography, but his work is present nowadays due to the contemporaneously of his themes, centered to the eternal doubts of baroque man

Anxiety-induced antinociception in mice: effects of systemic and intra-amygdala administration of 8-OH-DPAT and midazolam

Rationale: Mice exhibit antinociception after a single experience in the elevated plus maze (EPM), an animal model of anxiety. Objective: This study investigated the mechanisms involved in this form of anxiety-induced antinociception. Methods: Nociception was evaluated by means of the writhing test in mice confined either to the open or enclosed arms of the EPM. The effects of systemic (naloxone, midazolam and 8-OH-DPAT) or intra-amygdala (8-OH-DPAT. NAN-190 and midazolam) drug infusions were investigated in mice previously treated i.p. with 0.6% acetic acid, an algic stimulus that induces abdominal contortions. The effects of these drugs on conventional measures of anxiety (% entries and % time in open arms) in a standard EPM test were also independently investigated. Results: Open-arm confinement resulted in a high-magnitude antinociception (minimum 85%, maximum 450%) compared with enclosed arm confinement. The opiate antagonist naloxone (1 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg) neither blocked this open arm-induced antinociception (OAIA) nor modified indices of anxiety in EPM. Administration of midazolam (0.5-2 mg/kg, s.c.) increased OAIA and produced antinociception in enclosed confined animals, as well as attenuating anxiety in the EPM. The 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT (0.05-1 mg/kg, s.c.) had biphasic effects on OAIA, antagonising the response at the lowest dose and intensifying it at the highest dose. In addition, low doses of this agent reduced anxiety in the EPM. Although bilateral injections of 8-OH-DPAT (5.6 nmol/0.4 mu l) or NAN-190 (5.6 nmol and 10 nmol/0.4 mu l) into the amygdala did not alter OAIA, increased anxiety was observed in the EPM. In contrast, intra-amygdala administration of midazolam (10 nmol and 30 nmol/0.4 mu l) blocked both OAIA and anxiety. Conclusions: These results with systemic and intracerebral drug infusion suggest that 5-HT(1A) receptors localised in the amygdala are not involved in the pain inhibitory processes that are recruited during aversive situations. However, activation of these receptors does phasically increase anxiety. Although the intrinsic antinociceptive properties of systemically administered midazolam confounded interpretation of its effects on OAIA, intra-amygdala injections of this compound suggest that benzodiazepine receptors in this brain region modulate both the antinociceptive and behavioural (anxiety) responses to the EPM.

Involvement of the midbrain periaqueductal gray 5-HT1A receptors in social conflict induced analgesia in mice

Recent results from our laboratory have shown that 30-bites social conflict in mice produces a high-intensity, short-term analgesia which is attenuated by systemically injected 5-HT1A receptor agonists, such as BAY R 1531 (6-methoxy-4-(di-n-propylamino)-1,3,4,5-tetrahydrobenz(c,d)indole hydrochloride) and gepirone. The present study investigated the effects of these drugs, as well as the 5-HT1A receptor antagonist WAY 100135 (N-tert-butyl-3-(4-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazine-1-yl)-2-phenylpropanamide) injected into the midbrain periaqueductal gray matter of mice on 30-bites analgesia. Four to five days after guide-cannula implantation, each mouse received microinjection of gepirone (30 nmol/0.2 mu l), BAY R 1531 (10 nmol/0.2 mu l), WAY 100135 (10 nmol/0.2 mu l), saline (0.9% NaCl) or vehicle (saline + 4% Tween 80) 5 min before either an aggressive (30 bites) or a non-aggressive interaction. Nociception was assessed by the tail-flick test made before as well as 1, 5, 10 and 20 min after social interaction. The full 5-HT1A receptor agonist BAY R 1531 blocked, whereas, WAY 100135 and gepirone intensified 30-bites analgesia, Neither non-aggressive interaction, per se, nor the three compounds given after this type of social interaction significantly changed nociception. These results indicate that 5-HT1A receptors in the periaqueductal gray inhibit analgesia induced by social conflict in mice. (C) 1998 Elsevier B.V. B.V.

Anxiogenic-like effects of mCPP microinfusions into the amygdala (but not dorsal or ventral hippocampus) in mice exposed to elevated plus-maze

Serotonin (5-HT) can either increase or decrease anxiety-like behaviour in animals, actions that depend upon neuroanatomical site of action and 5-HT receptor subtype. Although systemic studies with 5-HT(2) receptor agonists and antagonists suggest a facilitatory role for this receptor subtype in anxiety, somewhat inconsistent results have been obtained when such compounds have been directly applied to limbic targets such as the hippocampus and amygdala. The present study investigated the effects of the 5-HT(2B/2C) receptor agonist mCPP bilaterally microinjected into the dorsal hippocampus (DH: 0, 0.3 1.0 or 3.0 nmol/0.2 mu l), the ventral hippocampus (VH: 0, 0.3, 1.0 or 3.0 nmol/0.2 mu l) or the amygdaloid complex (0, 0.15, 0.5, 1.0 or 3.0 nmol/0.1 mu l) in mice exposed to the elevated plus-maze (EPM). Test sessions were videotaped and subsequently scored for conventional indices of anxiety (percentage of open arm entries and percentage of open arm time) and locomotor activity (closed arm entries). Results showed that mCPP microinfusions into the DH or VH failed to affect any behavioural measure in the EPM. However, when injected into the amygdaloid complex, the dose of 1.0 nmol of this 5HT(2B/2C) receptor agonist increased behavioural indices of anxiety without significantly altering general activity levels. This anxiogenic-like effect of mCPP was selectively and completely blocked by local injection of a behaviourally-inactive dose of SDZ SER-082 (10 nmol/0.1 mu l), a preferential 5-HT(2C) receptor antagonist. These data suggest that 5HT(2C) receptors located within the amygdaloid complex (but not the dorsal or ventral hippocampus) play a facilitatory role in plus-maze anxiety in mice. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Activation of 5-HT2C receptors in the dorsal periaqueductal gray increases antinociception in mice exposed to the elevated plus-maze

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