Zebrafish is becoming a popular animal model in neuropharmacology and drug discovery, mainly due to its ease of handling and low costs involved in maintenance and experimental work. This animal displays a series of complex behaviours that makes it useful for assessing the effects of psychoactive drugs. Here, adult zebrafish were used for assessment of the anxiolytic and anti-addictive properties of UFR2709, a nicotinic receptor (nAChR) antagonist, using two behavioural paradigms to test for addiction, the novel tank diving test to assess anxiety and the conditioned place preference (CPP). Furthermore, the expression of nAChR subunits α4 and α7 was measured in the zebrafish brain. The results show that UFR2709 exhibits an anxiolytic effect on zebrafish and blocks the effect evoked by nicotine on CPP. Moreover, UFR2709 significantly decreased the expression of α4 nicotinic receptor subunit. This indicates that UFR2709 might be a useful drug for the treatment of nicotine addiction.

Solanaceae is an important family of plants where many species of this family are source for food, industrial products, ornamental and medicinal uses. Within the family of Solanaceae, the genus Datura is one of the most interesting, in principle for its known medicinal and psychotropic uses against different pathologies. Multiple biological activities of Datura species have been documented. The species of the genus are attributed with insecticide, fungicide, antioxidant, antimicrobial, hypoglycemic, and immune response enhancing activity against cancer cells. These activities are related to the presence of different secondary metabolites such us: terpenoids, flavonoids, withanolides, tannins, phenolic compounds and tropane alkaloids, the main secondary metabolite of the genus Datura, being the most abundant atropine and scopolamine. The propose of this review is to identify the main phytochemical compounds isolated from the genus Datura and describe their biological activities associated to different secondary metabolites.

Sorption kinetics studies of herbicides, using different models, are an important tool for determining the mechanisms and kinetic parameters that explain the bioavailability and environmental behavior of these compounds. However, little is known about the combined effects of fertilizers and herbicides and how it could modify these processes on the soil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sorption kinetics of diuron and 2,4-D in an Andisol treated with urea using various kinetic models. The experiments were carried out in batch, independently for each herbicide, with urea application in an equivalent dose of 200 kg N ha −1 and artificial pH modifications. The results showed no differences in sorption kinetics due to urea for diuron; however 2,4-D showed differences with urea and changes in pH conditions. The data fitted well with the pseudo-second-order model (R 2 > 0.996), showing a maximum soil adsorption capacity of 11.9, 10.8, and 9.61 mg kg −1 for diuron, 2,4-D, and 2,4-D-urea, respectively. The initial adsorption rate was similar for both herbicides, but a significant increase in the rate constant was observed for 2,4-D at acid pH. We conclude from the Elovich and Weber-Morris models that both herbicides were adsorbed mainly during the first stage, followed by lower adsorption in the slower second stage. According to these models, mass transfer across the boundary layer, and to a lesser degree intraparticle diffusion mechanisms, controlled sorption kinetics for both herbicides. The results suggest that urea application could influence sorption process of acid herbicides for pH changes in soils.