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Naturally Occurring Compounds Affect Glutamatergic Neurotransmission in Rat Brain

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Abstract

Natural products, including those derived from plants, have largely contributed to the development of therapeutic drugs. Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and it is also considered a nociceptive neurotransmitter, by acting on peripheral nervous system. For this reason, in this study we investigated the effects of the hydroalcooholic extracts from Drymis winteri (polygodial and drimanial), Phyllanthus (rutin and quercetine), Jathopha elliptica (jatrophone), Hedyosmum brasiliense (13HDS), Ocotea suaveolens (Tormentic acid), Protium kleinii (αβ-amyrin), Citrus paradise (naringin), soybean (genistein) and Crataeva nurvala (lupeol), described as having antinociceptive effects, on glutamatergic transmission parameters, such as [3H]glutamate binding, [3H]glutamate uptake by synaptic vesicles and astrocyte cultures, and synaptosomal [3H]glutamate release. All the glutamatergic parameters were affected by one or more of these compounds. Specifically, drimanial and polygodial presented more broad and profound effects, requiring more investigation on their mechanisms. The putative central side effects of these compounds, via the glutamatergic system, are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by FAPERGS and CNPq.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2600-Anexo, Porto Alegre, RS, 90035-003, Brazil

    Lucia Helena Martini, Fernanda Jung, Felix Antunes Soares, Deusa Aparecida Vendite, Susana Wofchuk & Diogo O. Souza

  2. Fundação Faculdade Federal de Ciências Médicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Liane Nanci Rotta

  3. Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Canoas, RS, Brazil

    Liane Nanci Rotta

  4. Departamento de Ciências Morfológicas, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Sarmento Leite, 500, Porto Alegre, RS, 90050-170, Brazil

    Marcos Emilio dos Santos Frizzo

  5. Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, SC, 88049-900, Brazil

    Rosendo A. Yunes

  6. Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, CCB, Rua Ferreira Lima, 82, Florianopolis, SC, 88015-420, Brazil

    João Batista Calixto

Authors
  1. Lucia Helena Martini
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  2. Fernanda Jung
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  3. Felix Antunes Soares
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  4. Liane Nanci Rotta
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  5. Deusa Aparecida Vendite
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  6. Marcos Emilio dos Santos Frizzo
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  7. Rosendo A. Yunes
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  8. João Batista Calixto
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  9. Susana Wofchuk
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  10. Diogo O. Souza
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diogo O. Souza.

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Martini, L.H., Jung, F., Soares, F.A. et al. Naturally Occurring Compounds Affect Glutamatergic Neurotransmission in Rat Brain. Neurochem Res 32, 1950–1956 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-007-9393-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-007-9393-y

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