Mapping of brain activity in rats submitted to acute or repeated interventions with ayahuasca: immunohistochemical analysis of c-fos and Delta-fosB expression

• Grant number: 23/12575-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: July 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Neuropsychopharmacology
• Principal Investigator: Fulvio Rieli Mendes
• Grantee: Joice Cruz Jatobá
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Ayahuasca is a psychedelic drink derived from the decoction of the leaves of Psychotria viridis and the vine Banisteriopsis caapi, which provides DMT and ²-carboline alkaloids, respectively, capable ofpromote autonomic and psychotropic effects. In ritualistic and religious contexts, the drink is used regularly and periodically, which is why research has been committed tointervention protocols that resemble these standards. Imaging studies in humans have indicated effects of ayahuasca on the activation of different brain regions; while in preclinical models the tracking of neuronal activation by immunohistochemical staining of immediate expression genes has been guided by the outcomes observed in human models. Considering that work on animal models remains little explored, but has great potential for understanding the effects of ayahuasca on neuronal activation in different brain regions, this project aims to map the activation of brain regions in rats subjected to exposure acute or repeated with ayahuasca or vehicle, identifying any brain regions activated after the acute or chronic intervention protocol. To this end, naive Wistar rats will be exposed to acute and repeated oral treatment regimens with ayahuasca and will be euthanized without undergoing any other procedure, in order to minimize other possible interference. The brain of the animals will be removed and submitted to histological evaluation by the immunohistochemical technique regarding the expression of c-fos and ”fosB, whose interpretation of the immunohistochemical marking will reveal brain areas activated as a result of the respective interventions to which the animals were submitted, in the different protocols implemented .