Graduated in Medicine from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (1981) and got his Phd in Pharmacology from the Universidade de São Paulo (1987). At the moment is Full Professor of Pharmacology at the Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Pauo. Has experience in Pharmacology, focusing on Neuropsicopharmacology, acting on the following subjects: nitric oxide, anxiety, depression, cannabinoids, glutamate and serotonin. He is a member of the Brazilian and São Paulo Academies of Science. (Source: Lattes Curriculum)
| Articles published in Pesquisa FAPESP Magazine about the researcher: |
| Movements under control |
| Movimientos bajo control |
| News published in Agência FAPESP Newsletter about the researcher |
| TITULO |
| Articles published in other media outlets (0 total): |
| More itemsLess items |
| VEICULO: TITULO (DATA) |
| VEICULO: TITULO (DATA) |
The need to develop new therapeutic targets for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders is a consensus in the scientific literature. Endocannabinoids (eCBs) and nitric oxide (NO) have been proposed as two of these possible targets. Studies from our group have disclosed the therapeutic potential of drugs that interfere with these two atypical neurotransmitters in anxiety, depressive, p…
In the last 15 years our group has contributed to a better understanding of the role of nitric oxide (NO) and endocannabinoids (eCBs) in physiological and pathophysiological processes of the central nervous system. We showed that manipulations of these atypical neurotransmitters are able to change behavioral and autonomic responses of laboratory animals submitted to animal models of anxie…
Anxiety disorders such as phobias and post-traumatic stress are common and often debilitating diseases linked to abnormally persistent memories of fearful events. Although psychological and drug therapies are available, these treatments show limited effectiveness and can cause adverse side effects, highlighting the urgent need for better therapies to treat these disorders. Cannabidiol, th…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
Cannabidiol is the main non-psychotomimetic constituent of the Cannabis sativa plant and has broad therapeutic potential for neuropsychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression. However, the mechanisms involved in these effects have not been fully elucidated yet. In vitro results suggest that, among the different mechanisms described, CBD is capable of inhibiting adenosine uptake…
The need to develop new therapeutic targets for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders is a consensus in the scientific literature. Endocannabinoids (eCBs) have been proposed as a possible target, and studies by our group have shown the therapeutic potential of drugs that act on these atypical neurotransmitters in anxiety disorders, depression, psychosis, Parkinson's and neurodegener…
In the present project we will investigate whether cannabidiol (CBD) could favorably intervene in the long-term behavioral, molecular and inflammatory changes induced by exposure of rats to an intense stress situation called single prolonged stress (SPS). A complementary objective of the proposal is to investigate whether the nitrergic system is involved in these changes, and the impact o…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
Cannabidiol (CBD), the main non-psychotomimetic constituent of the Cannabis sativa plant, has demonstrated broad therapeutic potential for different neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety. However, the mechanisms involved in these effects are not yet fully understood. Results observed in vitro suggest that, among the several mechanisms described, CBD can also inhibit…
Drugs used to treat schizophrenia improve mainly the positive symptoms of the disease, have low tolerability, and high rates of discontinuation of treatment. Recent evidence suggests that the endocannabinoid system may be a new target for the treatment of this disorder. The cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) can modulate dopaminergic neurotransmission and attenuate the effects of proinflam…
The neurobiology of depressive disorders is not fully understood, but it is proposed that interactions among the immune system, stress, and central nervous system (CNS) result in neuroimmunoendocrine alterations which facilitate the emergence of depression. It is known that there is an increase of pro-inflammatory cytokines in depressive people or in animals subjected to stressors. Among …
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
More than 350 million people worldwide are affected by major depressive disorder (DM), which makes it one of the most prevalent mental illnesses. According to the WHO (World Health Organization, 2017). Brazil is a country with the highest incidence of anxiety and depression in the world and MD will be the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite many advances in understanding…
Pathological anxiety is a common mental disorder that involves neuroendocrine, neuroanatomical, neuroimmune and neurotransmitter alterations. Anxiety disorders are highly correlated with other mental disorders such as depression and PTSD, in which the involvement of pro-inflammatory cytokines is better characterized and understood. Among these mediators, interleukin-1² (IL-1²) is widely d…
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a chronic and debilitating stress-associated neuropsychiatric disorder, develops following exposure to acute or repeated traumatic experiences in a small proportion of individuals. Its vulnerability has been linked to alterations in fear conditioning (FC) processing, in which responses would become exaggerated and/or resistant to extinction. Changes …
The malfunction of cortico-striatum-thalamic-cortical (CSTC) circuitry is involved in several neuropsychiatric disorders, specially obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The observation that OCD patients improve following treatment with selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI) leaded to implicate this system in this pathology. However OCD pharmacotherapy is effective in less than ha…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
| 1 / 1 | Ongoing research grants |
| 13 / 7 | Completed research grants |
| 7 / 7 | Ongoing scholarships in Brazil |
| 39 / 14 | Completed scholarships in Brazil |
| 1 / 1 | Ongoing scholarships abroad |
| 5 / 5 | Completed scholarships abroad |
| 66 / 35 | All research grants and scholarships |
| Associated processes | |
CV Lattes
ORCID