Avaliação da atividade antioxidante da alface lisa (Lactuta sativa var. capitata) e efeito ansiolítico no modelo zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are common mental disorders today. The most commonly used form of treatment is the use of allopathic medicines that act directly on the central nervous system, however, side effects are frequently reported. Medicinal plants can be seen as a great resource for managing symptoms related to mental health, since, if used appropriately, they are effective and safe to use with the advantage of side effects being mild or even non-existent. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is a vegetable widely used in cooking and also for its medicinal and anxiolytc properties. Therefore, this work aimed to characterize the bioactive compounds present in lettuce (Lactuca sativa var capitata) and the anxiolytic effect of different concentrations of the extract in behavioral assays in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Firstly, was made extractive optimization with the intention of identifying the most effective solvent. Respecting the results obtained in extractive optimization, we used the aqueous extract to carry out the experiments.Biochemical analyzes demonstrated that the aqueous extract of lettuce (Lactuca sativa var capitata) has a lot of antioxidant and phenolic compounds, which are associated with the anxiolytic effect of the vegetable through the reduction of oxidative stress and affinity with GABA receptors in the CNS. The behavioral test demonstrated that the extract at dose 3 (9.0g.L-1) was able to reduce anxiety-like behavior in relation to the other treatments and at dose 4 (12g.L-1) it was able to promote a state of sleep in zebrafish, which can be proven by the time that the animal remained motionless. The present study found the anxiolytic effect of the aqueous extract of lettuce leaves (L. sativa var. capitata), being able of promoting neuroprotective effects on the CNS and reducing symptoms of stress and anxiety.