Nicotine, the main component of tobacco smoke, exerts influence on mood, and contributes to physical and psychological dependence. Taking into account frequent concomitance of nicotine abuse and stress, we aimed to research behavioral and biochemical effects associated with nicotine administration in combination with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Mice were submitted to the procedure of CUMS for 4 weeks, 2 h per day. Our results revealed that CUMS-exposed animals exhibited behavioral alteration like anxiety disorders in the elevated plus maze (EPM) test, the disturbances in memory in the passive avoidance (PA) test and depressive effects in the forced swim test (FST). Moreover, nicotine (0.05–0.5 mg/kg), after an acute or subchronic administration decreased stress-induced depression- and anxiety-like effect as well as memory deficit. Administration of metyrapone (50 mg/kg), a glucocorticosteroid antagonist, alleviated the depressive effect induced by the CUMS. The biochemical experiments showed decreased values of the total antioxidant status (TAS), activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) with simultaneously increased in malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in mice submitted to the CUMS. The same effects were observed after an acute and subchronic nicotine administration within all examined brain structures (i.e., hippocampus, cortex, and cerebellum) and in the whole brain in non-stressed and stressed mice confirming pro-oxidative effect of nicotine. Our study contributes to the understanding of behavioral and biochemical mechanisms involved in stress-induced disorders such as depression, anxiety and memory disturbances as well as dual nicotine-stress interactions on the basis of the development of nicotine dependence.
"Legal highs" is a term that embraces many compounds, including plant substances and synthetic derivatives. Trends in the use of traditional drugs of abuse by young people, are downward. On the other hand, we can observe an increasing prevalence of "smart drugs" use. These are often sold by online shops offering a wide range of products as alternatives to illegal drugs. However, the degree of risk posed by the use of “legal highs” for individual users, and for public health is unknown and difficult to assess [2,9,18]. The health risk may also increase when people use high doses of these products or mix these with alcohol or other drugs of abuse [18]. These drugs increase the risk of serious interactions and may lead to the poisoning of the body. Moreover, there is no information on their packaging about the active ingredients of the products, their dosages and their potential negative side effects. In addition, considerable variation was noted regarding the amount of information provided by online retailers about the mode of use and the health risks of the products they were selling [9]. What is more, these products fall outside pharmaceutical licensing regulations and control, and consequently their quality is not subject to scrutiny. This paper describes some of the selected substances known as "legal highs". It should be noted that the list of species of psychoactive, hallucinogenic and narcotic species, mainly plants and fungi, used to produce highs in the world, is much greater. Moreover, new psychoactive substances that appear require numerous and thorough research, and it is impossible to immediately determine the short- and long-term effects of the use of these substances. Let us hope that most of these substances will be soon under control and will be on the list of controlled substances.
The plants of the Impatiens L. (Balsaminaceae) have been used for a long time in folk medicine in different painful conditions, and to treat rheumatism, isthmus and crural aches, fractures, superficial infections, fingernail inflammation.This study was undertaken to determine the pharmacological profile of hydroethanolic extracts from Impatiens glandulifera, I. noli-tangere and I. parviflora.A range of behavioral assessments was applied to evaluate the effects of obtained extracts i.e. measurement of body temperature, tests of locomotor activity and motor coordination, nociceptive reaction and anxiety-like behavior.Hydroethanolic extracts were analyzed for total polyphenol (TPC), flavonoid (TFC), flavones/flavonols (TFFC), and flavonones/dihydroflavonols (TFDC) content.Our results show that the extracts from Impatiens species contain high levels of TPC, TFC, TFFC, and TFDC.Oral (i.e., by gavage) administration of Impatiens L. extracts (except for I. nolitangere) presented an antinociceptive or/and anti-inflammatory activity in the writhing test.The antinociceptive effect of I. parviflora leaves (100 mg/kg) and I. glandulifera flowers (100 mg/kg) was reversed by naloxone.I. glandulifera flowers and roots extracts (100 mg/kg) increased the reaction time to the thermal stimulus in the hot-plate test.All extracts from I. glandulifera (100 mg/kg) showed antianxiety effect in the elevated plus-maze test.It is worth noting that none of the extracts, at the highest used dose ñ 0.1 ED 50 (200 mg/kg), caused coordination impairments or myorelaxation as measured in the rota-rod and chimney tests.These results seem to suggest that the tested extracts are not neurotoxic.These findings show the potential use of hydroethanolic extracts from different parts of I. glandulifera as phytomedicine.
