Açaí juice (Euterpe oleraceae) prevents ethanol-induced motor impairments in adolescent female rats

Abstract

Açaí (Euterpe oleracea), a natural species frequent in the Amazon biome is widely consumed by the inhabitants of the Amazon. Açaí juice presents high levels of antioxidant compounds, especially anthocyanins, which confer several pharmacological properties. According to the World Health Organization, the consumption of alcohol by adolescents occurs in early adolescence in an intense, intermittent, and episodic manner, also called binge drinking. The binge-like standard induces several hazardous effects on the central nervous system. The present work investigated the effects of clarified açaí juice on a model of binge alcohol-induced motor impairment in adolescents. Female rats received açaí juice (10 µL/g) or distilled water by gavage from the 30th to 58th postnatal day (PND). On the 35th to 58th PND, animals were exposed to four cycles of a binge-like paradigm (ethanol 3 g/kg/day by gavage, 3 days on–4 days off) or distilled water. On the 59th PND, all tested groups were submitted to motor behavioral assays on the open field, pole test, beam walking, and rotarod tests. Our results demonstrated that alcohol-exposed animals reduced the spontaneous locomotor activity, elicited bradykinesia-like behavior, as well as motor incoordination and imbalance on the behavioral tasks. The chronic açaí juice administration prevented the spontaneous locomotor activity alteration, bradykinesia, and incoordination induced by alcohol exposure in all behavioral tests, suggesting a protective effect on motor function. We concluded that açaí juice exerts a protective effect against alcohol-induced motor impairments in a binge ethanol-exposed adolescent model.

Keywords

• Açaí
• Alcohol
• Binge drinking
• Neuromotor disorders
• Adolescence
• Rats