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Mental and neurological disorders are conditions that affect thoughts, emotions, behavior, and relationships. Malpighia mexicana A. Juss. is a plant used in Mexican traditional medicine for the treatment of such disorders. This work aimed to investigate the antidepressant, anxiolytic, sedative, hypnotic, and anticonvulsant effects of the acetonic extract (MmAE) of M. mexicana and its fractions (F3, F4-10, F14) using the forced swimming test (FST), elevated plus maze (EPM), open field test (OFT), pentobarbital-induced sleep test (PBTt), and pentylenetetrazol-induced seizure test (PTZt). MmAE, F3, F4-10, F14, and vehicle were administrated orally 24, 18, and 1 h prior to the evaluations. Imipramine (15 mg/kg, p.o.) was administrated 1 h prior to the evaluations as a positive control for the FST, while diazepam (1 mg/kg, p.o.) was administrated 1 h prior to the evaluations as a positive control for the EPM, OFT, PBTt, and PTZt. MmAE had an anxiolytic effect; MmAE and F3, F4-10, and F14 showed an antidepressant effect, sedative effect, hypnotic effect, and anticonvulsant effect. Using HPLC, we identified the compounds quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (1), kaempferol 3-O-glucoside (2), luteolin 7-O-glucoside (3), quercetin (4), and kaempferol (5) in MmAE and compounds (1), (2), and (3) in F14. Using GC-MS, we identified α-tocopherol, phytol, and β-amyrin in F3; β-tocopherol, phytol, β-sitosterol, and β-amyrin in F4-10; and α- tocopherol, phytol, β-sitosterol, and β-amyrin in F4-10. The neuropharmacological effects found in this work may be due to the presence of vitamins, phytosterols, terpenes, and flavonoids. This research requires further study to clarify the mechanisms of action of the identified compounds.

Most evaluations of passive regeneration/natural succession or restoration have dealt with tropical rain forest or temperate ecosystems. Very few studies have examined the regeneration of tropical dry forests (TDF), one of the most damaged ecosystem types in the world. Owing to their species diversity and abundance, insects have been widely used as bioindicators of restoration. Butterflies were among the most abundant and useful groups. We sampled four sites with different levels of anthropogenic disturbance in a Mexican TDF (Morelos State) and compared butterfly communities. A first goal was to examine whether adult butterflies were significant bioindicators owing to their specificity to restricted habitats. A second aim was to determine if differences exist in butterfly communities between some fields abandoned from 4–8, 8–15 and 15–30 years and a reference zone considered as primary forest. We found 40% to 50% of the species of butterflies were specifically related to a habitat and/or a level of anthropogenic disturbance. The time it takes for passive regeneration and recovery of the Mexican tropical dry forest is much higher than 25 years (our older zone), considering that almost none of the butterflies found in our conserved reference zone were present in our 25 year aged study zone.