Open AccessAçaí: potential anticonvulsant agent
Author(s) -
Márcio Yutaka Tsukimata,
Bianca Lumi Inomata da Silva,
Jennison Alves Guimarães
Publication year - 2021
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.5327/1516-3180.064
Subject(s) - pentylenetetrazol , anticonvulsant , convulsion , diazepam , epilepsy , pharmacology , medicine , gabaergic , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , anesthesia , psychiatry
Background: Convulsion is an involuntary contraction of skeletal muscles. When considering vulnerable populations exposed to the mentioned pathophysiological situation, it is recognized that many of them will not have access to the indicated pharmacological treatment. Therefore, the ingestion of açai, Euterpe oleracea (EO) attenuates the problem, acting as an anticonvulsant. Objectives: evaluate the EO as an anticonvulsant agent. Design and setting: It is a bibliographic research and the data collection was done from the PubMed and Scielo databases. Methods: The descriptor used was “Euterpe oleracea” and the inclusion criteria adopted were: articles published in the last five years, available in full and publications related to epilepsy. Results: The EO acts on the GABAergic system when interacting occurs with the GABA receptor of cortical neurons and, above all, of astrocytes in an inhibitory mechanism for the uptake of the neurotransmitter GABA, that accumulates in the synaptic cleft, preventing the exaggerated neurotransmission that causes convulsions. In pentylenetetrazol-induced seizure (PTZ), EO showed some results similar to diazepam: reduced duration of tonic-clonic convulsion and increased latencies for the first myoclonic spasm and for the first generalized tonic-clonic seizure. Conclusions: Studies suggest that EO can be classified as an anticonvulsant, considering its inhibitory activity during synapses. Furthermore, the consumption of EO is more viable at a socioeconomic level compared to traditional drug treatments.