title: Petiveria alliacea exerts mnemonic and learning effects on rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Petiveria alliacea L. (Phytolaccaceae) is a perennial shrub native to the Amazon region and other tropical areas such as Central America and the Caribbean. Popularly known as mucuracaá, P. alliacea is used in the folk medicine for a broad variety of therapeutic purpose and also in religious ceremonies by slaves as a sedative, which highlights its properties on the Central Nervous System (CNS).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study evaluated the effects of the P. alliacea leaves hydroalcoholic extract (PaLHE) on the cognition, including learning and memory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three-month-old male and female Wistar rats (n=8-10/group) were administered with 900mg/kg of PaLHE. The behavioral assays included Step-down Inhibitory avoidance (IA) and Morris Water Maze (MWM) tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consistent with our previous reports, P. alliacea improved long-term memory. It also exerted previously unreported effects on short-term and spatial memory improvement, and increased learning in the tasks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The P. alliacea extract elicited mnemonic effects and improved the learning process in both IA and MWM tests. Our results highlight the importance of further studies in order to identify the active substances of the PaLHE and investigate the pharmacological mechanisms that underlies the reported effects.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mallone Lopes
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diandra Araújo
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Luz
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thiago Portal da
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Paixão
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Paulo Bastos
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ivaldo Jesus Almeida
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Belém-Filho
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luanna Melo Pereira
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Cristina Baetas
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Enéas Andrade
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Fontes-Júnior
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marciene Ataíde
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Andrade
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil. Electronic address: crismaia@ufpa.br.
authors.forename: Cristiane Socorro Ferraz
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Maia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D029602:Phytolaccaceae; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018515:Plant Leaves; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Caffeine (PubChem CID: 2519); Central nervous system; Learning; Memory; Mucuracaá; Petiveria alliacea; Sodium Chlorate (PubChem CID: 516902)