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O presente estudo descreve e interpreta, a partir do conceito de cultura, o discurso de três ciganas, residentes no Município de Irati, Estado do Paraná, sobre a percepção de aspectos do próprio curso de vida, ora fortalecido, ora enfraquecido, pela figura do velho cigano. Nos procedimentos metodológicos, com base na perspectiva da pesquisa qualitativa, utilizou-se a entrevista, apoiada em um questionário semiestruturado, e o diário de campo, como instrumentos de coleta de dados. Consideramos que o trabalho de campo possibilitou registrar, compreender e refletir sobre o velho no imaginário das ciganas e identificar questões a respeito das dimensões do curso de vida deste grupo étnico; desvelou a figura do velho assumindo um papel de destaque independentemente de ser homem ou mulher e, também, a imagem da velhice desassistida no contexto dos acampamentos, onde há extrema vulnerabilidade e precariedades da qualidade de vida, da coletividade e do poder público.

ObjectiveThe aims of this study were to replicate previously published experiments and to modify the protocol to detect the effects of chronic antidepressant treatment in mice.MethodsMale Swiss mice (n=6–8/group) housed in reversed light/dark cycle were randomly assigned into receive vehicle (10% sucrose), sub-effective doses (1 and 3 mg/kg) or effective doses (10 and 30 mg/kg) of bupropion, desipramine, and fluoxetine and a candidate antidepressant, sodium butyrate (1–30 mg/kg) per gavage (p.o.) 1 h before the forced swim test (FST). Treatments continued daily for 7 and 14 days during retests 1 and 2, respectively. In an additional experiment, mice received fluoxetine (20 mg/kg) or vehicle (10% sucrose or 0.9% saline) p.o. or i.p. before the FST. Mice housed in reversed or standard light/dark cycles received fluoxetine (20 mg/kg) prior FST. Video recordings of behavioural testing were used for blind assessment of the outcomes.ResultsAccording to the expected, doses of antidepressants considered sub-effective failed to affect the immobility time of mice in the FST. Surprisingly, acute and chronic treatment with the high doses of bupropion, desipramine, and fluoxetine or sodium butyrate also failed to reduce the immobility time of mice in the FST. Fluoxetine 20 mg/kg was also ineffective in the FST when injected i.p. or in mice housed in normal light/dark cycle.ConclusionData suggest the lack of efficacy of orally administered bupropion, desipramine, fluoxetine in the FST in Swiss mice. High variability, due to high and low immobility mice, may explain the limited effects of the treatments.

Due to the prevalence of depression in women, female rats may be a better models for antidepressant research than males. In male rats, fluoxetine inhibited the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) transporter (SERT) which is reducing the immobility time in the repeated forced swimming test (rFST). The performance of female rats in this test is unknown. In this study, responses of male and female rats in the rFST under chronic treatment with fluoxetine and the function of SERT in their brains were examined. Wistar rats received oral fluoxetine (females: 0, 1, 2.5, or 5 mg kg-1 day-1 ; males: 0 or 2.5 mg kg-1 day-1 ; in sucrose 10%, 1.5 ml/rat) 1 hr before the test daily for 12 days over the course of the rFST. rFST consisted of a 15 min pretest followed by 5 min sessions of swimming at 1 (test), 7 (retest 1), and 14 (retest 2) days later. SERT functioning was assessed by ex vivo assays of the frontal cortex and hippocampus of rats. Fluoxetine reduced immobility time of males in the rFST while it failed to do so in females. In vitro treatment with fluoxetine inhibited the uptake of 5-HT of both sexes similarly, while in vivo chronic administration of fluoxetine failed to do so. In summary, rats responded to the chronic treatment with fluoxetine in a sexually dimorphic fashion during the rFST despite the functioning of SERT in their brains remaining equally unchanged. Hence, our data suggest that sexually dimorphic responses to fluoxetine in rFST may be unrelated to the function of SERT in rat brains.