INTERAÇÕES MEDICAMENTOSAS DECORRENTES DO USO DE FITOTERÁPICOS

Introdução: Um medicamento fitoterápico é um produto farmacêutico obtido através do processamento de matéria prima vegetal o qual possui ação terapêutica comprovada. Estes medicamentos são usados com frequência, principalmente, pela população idosa, geralmente sem acompanhamento ou orientação, o que pode acarretar problemas, como: Interações medicamentosas, modificação na eficácia e segurança dos fármacos associados, além de danos à saúde. Objetivos: Destacar as principais interações medicamentosas decorrentes do uso de fitoterápicos, principalmente por idosos, e auxiliar para a disseminação de informações acerca da temática. Material e métodos: Trata-se de uma revisão bibliográfica, utilizando como fonte de pesquisa as bases SCIELO e MEDLINE, tendo como descritores: Fitoterápicos, interações medicamentosas e polifarmacoterapia. Foram selecionados 4 artigos publicados em português nos últimos 6 anos. Resultados: A fase senil é a mais vulnerável a sofrer alguma intercorrência no uso de fitoterápicos, devido às modificações fisiológicas desfavoráveis, além da prática da polifarmacoterapia. De acordo com os estudos, os fitoterápicos a base de Ginkgo biloba, Echinacea purpúrea e Ginseng são os mais procurados por este público. O uso de Ginkgo biloba pode potencializar a ação de anticoagulantes, elevando os riscos de hemorragia, anti-inflamatórios não esteroidais, antidepressivos e drogas utilizadas para disfunção erétil, além de afetar as taxas glicêmicas; Danos hepáticos tornam-se frequentes pelo uso continuado da Echinacea purpúrea, e por ser uma planta que estimula o sistema imunológico, não deve ser administrada em conjunto com fármacos imunossupressores; O uso do Ginseng tanto pode aumentar os riscos de reações adversas quando administrado concomitantemente a fármacos antidepressivos inibidores da monoamino oxidase, como pode inibir o seu efeito, o que também pode ocorrer com o uso de analgésicos. Conclusão: Devido à susceptibilidade dos idosos, a aquisição dos medicamentos fitoterápicos deve ser realizada de maneira segura, com orientação de um profissional qualificado, que possa realizar o acompanhamento farmacoterapêutico na tentativa de minimizar os riscos de interações medicamentosas e reações adversas.

Monoamino Oxidase a Gene Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Methylation Status and the Risk of Violent Suicide Attempts in Affective Disorder Patients

Background: When investigating the neurobiology of suicidal behavior, Monoamino Oxidase A (MAOA) is one of the prime suspects to consider. Interestingly, MAOA dysregulation has also been associated with violent behavior in previous publications. In the present study, we aimed to establish an association between polymorphisms of the MAOA gene and methylation status of the MAOA gene Exon I, and suicide attempts with violent methods in a sample of affective disorder patients.Methods: Eight hundred fourteen Caucasian affective disorder patients were assessed at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the Medical University Vienna, the Karl Landsteiner University for Health and Science and Zentren für seelische Gesundheit, BBRZ-Med Leopoldau. An assemblage of psychiatric interviews was performed (e.g., SCAN, HAMD, SBQ-R, CTQ) and DNA samples of peripheral blood cells were collected for Sequenom MassARRAY® iPLEX Gold genotyping and Multiplexed and Sensitive DNA Methylation Testing.Results: Female affective disorder patients with a history of violent suicide attempt were found to have a significantly increased frequency of the AA genotype in the rs5906957 single nucleotide polymorphism (p = 0.003). Furthermore, the MAOA gene exon I promoter region showed significantly decreased methylation in female violent suicide attempter(s) as opposed to female affective disorder patients who had no history of suicide attempt or no history of suicide attempt with violent method.Limitations: The small sample size hampers to reveal small genetic effects as to be expected in psychiatric disorders.Conclusions: This study offers promising findings about associations between the MAOA gene and violent suicide especially in women.

An Overview of Histamine and Other Biogenic Amines in Fish and Fish Products

The occurrence of biogenic amines in fish is directly associated with microorganisms with decarboxylase activity. These compounds are generally detoxified by oxidases in the intestinal tract of humans, but some conditions, such as alcohol consumption, enzyme deficiency, or monoamino-oxidase antidepressant use, can make their intake by food dangerous. Due to its toxicity, histamine is the unique biogenic amine with regulatory limits for fishery products. This review focuses on biogenic amines in fish, with a detailed picture of the number of alert notifications or intoxication events reported in the last years. The favoring conditions for their formation, as well as the main preventive and control measures to ensure public health, are also reviewed.

In vitro analysis of the activity of human monoamine oxidase type B (hMAOB), treated with the cyanotoxin anatoxin-a: supposed factor of neurodegenerative diseases

In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that an additional source of free radicals may be hydrogen peroxide formed by monoamino oxidase (MAO) -catalyzed deamination of catecholamines. Also, increased MAO-B activity in the brain has been linked to the development of some neurodegenerative diseases. The toxicant we used to treat recombinant human MAO-B enzyme is the cyanotoxin аnatoxin-a. For anatoxin-a is known that it’s an agonist of neuronal acetylcholine receptors with 20 times greater affinity to them compared to the natural neurotransmitter. In this study, we analyzed the effect of anatoxin at various selected concentrations on the activity of recombinant human MAO-B enzyme. The method we use is to analyze the activity of human MAO-B with the fluorimetric reagent Amplex UltraRed and the substrate tyramine hydrochloride. The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of anatoxin-a on the hMAO-B enzyme activity and its influence as a factor for the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases.