EXPLORATION OF THE NEUROBEHAVIORAL ACTIVITY OF ALKALOIDS AND FLAVONOIDS FROM MAYTENUS MACROCARPA (CHUCHUHUASI) IN THE PORSOLT FORCED SWIM TEST IN MICE

Salazar Granara A.A.; Alvarado Yarasca Á.T.; Zambrano Santoyo C.; Torres Acosta L.; Zúñiga Espinoza L.; Pante Medina C. · Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana (2026) · DOI: 10.25176/rfmh.v26i2.8231

Resumen

Introduction: Maytenus macrocarpa, known as Chuchuhuasi, is a Peruvian medicinal plant with potential effects on the central nervous system. Objectives: To explore the neurobehavioral effect of alkaloids and flavonoids from Maytenus macrocarpa in BALB/c mice. Methods: This was an analytical, experimental, triple-blind study. Forty-eight male albino BALB/c mice were used and assigned to eight groups: control without substance (G1), placebo with distilled water 0.1 mL/10 g (G2), haloperidol 5 mg/kg (G3), fluoxetine 30 mg/kg (G4), bark alkaloids 400 mg/kg (G5), leaf alkaloids 400 mg/kg (G6), bark flavonoids 400 mg/kg (G7), and leaf flavonoids 400 mg/kg (G8). Immobility time was assessed using the Porsolt forced swim test. The analysis included one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's test. Results: G1 and G2 showed mean immobility times of 98.12 and 57.78 seconds, respectively. G4 showed the shortest time, with 17.17 seconds. G3, G5, G6, G7, and G8 showed longer times, with 109.80, 103.80, 123.80, 94.33, and 121.80 seconds, respectively. ANOVA showed significant differences, with a p-value < 0.001. Tukey's test identified differences between G1 vs. G4, G2 vs. G6, G2 vs. G8, G3 vs. G4, G4 vs. G5, G4 vs. G6, G4 vs. G7, and G4 vs. G8, with a p-value < 0.050. Conclusion: Alkaloids and flavonoids from Maytenus macrocarpa modulated neurobehavior, increasing immobility time, with a greater effect observed in leaf extracts. Artículo publicado por la Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana de la Universidad Ricardo Palma. Es un artículo de acceso abierto, distribuido bajo los términos de la Licencia Creative Commons: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), que permite el uso no comercial, distribución y reproducción en cualquier medio, siempre que la obra original sea debidamente citada. Para uso comercial, por favor póngase en contacto con revista.medicina@urp.pe

Instituciones: Universidad de San Martín de Porres; Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola