The psychoactive effects of Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken leaves in young zebrafish.

Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken (BP) is a plant that is used worldwide to treat inflammation, infections, anxiety, restlessness, and sleep disorders. While it is known that BP leaves are rich in flavonoids, the extent of the beneficial and toxic effects of its crude extracts remains unclear. Although some neurobehavioral studies using leaf extracts have been conducted, none has examined the effects of water-extracted leaf samples. The zebrafish is a powerful animal model used to gain insights into the efficacy and toxicity profiles of this plant due to its high fecundity, external development, and ease of performing behavioral assays. In this study, we performed behavioral testing after acute exposure to different concentrations of aqueous extract from leaves of B. pinnatum (LABP) on larval zebrafish, investigating light/dark preference, thigmotaxis, and locomotor activity parameters under both normal and stressed conditions. LABP demonstrated dose-and time-dependent biphasic effects on larval behavior. Acute exposure (25 min) to 500 mg/L LABP resulted in decreased locomotor activity. Exposure to 300 mg/L LABP during the sleep cycle decreased dark avoidance and thigmotaxis while increasing swimming velocity. After sleep deprivation, the group treated with 100 mg/L LABP showed decreased dark avoidance and increased velocity. After a heating stressor, the 30 mg/L and 300 mg/L LABP-treated groups showed decreased dark avoidance. These results suggest both anxiolytic and psychoactive effects of LABP in a dose-dependent manner in a larval zebrafish model. These findings provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying relevant behavioral effects, consequently supporting the safe and effective use of LABP for the treatment of mood disorders.

[Thin layer chromatography and infrared spectroscopy in the diagnosis of salicylic intoxication]. / Diagnóstico de intoxicación salicílica mediante cromatografía de capa delgada y espectroscopia infrarroja.

Drugs are the main causal agents in intoxications with suicidal purpose. Salicylates are few frequently related. In this paper we reported a patient with suspicion of acute exogenous intoxication with salicylates. The patient showed clinical symptoms of fever, hypoglycemia, low cardiac rhythm, hyperventilation, pulmonary edema and coma. We employed analytical toxicology to elucidate the drug involved in the intoxication, using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and infrared spectrometry to detect acetyl salicylic acid, as the cause agent of intoxication clinical pattern, in acids extracts from urine and gastric content. The analytical results corresponds with clinical symptoms showed by the patient and the information obtained by medical monitoring of him.

Intoxicación inhalatoria con cipermetrina / Inhalatory intoxication with cipermetrine

Se describe un proceso de intoxicación masiva con cipermetrina (insecticida piretroide de tipo II), donde las personas afectadas presentaron los siguientes síntomas: sequedad y ardor en la garganta, tos seca, falta de aire, ardor en los ojos y nariz, mareos, cefalea, visión borrosa, náuseas, lagrimeo y mucosa enrojecida, los cuales se correspondían con el cuadro de intoxicación atribuible a dicha sustancia. De las muestras colectadas en el lugar donde ocurrió el hecho: dispositivos plásticos e insectos (una cucaracha y moscas domésticas), se extrajo e identificó el analito mediante cromatografía gaseosa con detector de captura electrónica (GC-ECD) y se hallaron residuos de cipermetrina en la cucaracha y los dispositivos(AU)