Distribution of Like-muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M2 in the Brain of Three Castes of Polyrhachis vicina

The cholinergic system plays an important role in the central nervous system of insects and is closely related to the complex behavior of insects. The immunohistochemical technique was performed to detect the expression of like-muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M2 in the brain of three castes of Polyrhachis vicina. A positive expression of like-muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M2 was observed in the mushroom body, central body and antennal lobes of the ant brain; but there is great diversity in their location and intensity among worker, queen and male ants. It is speculated that like-muscafinic acetylcholine receptor M2 plays a critical role in the central nervous system, in terms of projecting visual information and olfactory information into the protocerebrum and integrating many inputs.

Antidepressant-like effect of active fraction of Polyrhachisvicina Roger in a rat depression model

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the antidepressant-likeeffect of active fraction of Polyrhachis vicina Roger(AFPR) in a rat depression model, and to elucidate the underlying mechanism.METHODS: AFPR was extracted with ethanol followed by petroleum ether. Its antidepressant-like effect was investigated in mice by tail suspension test(TST), forced swimming test(FST) and open field test(OPT). A repeated dose of reserpine(0.5 mg/kg, daily for 14 d) was used to establish a rat depression model. Fluoxetine was used as positive control agent. The effect of AFPR on reserpine-induced ptosis, hypothermia and akinesia, the levels of monoamines and their metabolites, and the activity of monoamine oxidase(MAO) in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex were determined.RESULTS: Administration of AFPR by gavage at 160 and 320 mg/kg significantly reduced the duration of immobility in the FST and TST, and did not affect locomotor activity in the OPT. In the reserpine-induced depression model, AFPR attenuated anhedonia, demonstrated by reversing hypothermia, akinesia and sucrose consumption. AFPR significantly increased the concentration of monoamines, including dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline and acetylcholine.CONCLUSION: AFPR normalized the metabolism rates of noradrenaline, serotonin and dopamine,and the activity of MAO, which were altered by chronic reserpine exposure. The findings suggest that modulation of the monoaminergic neurotransmitter system likely underlies the antidepressant-like effect of AFPR.

Lipids and Fatty Acid Composition of Dried Edible Red and Black Ants

Total lipid contents,lipid classes and fatty acid compositions of hot-air dried edible black ants（Polyrhachis vicina Roger） from Wenzhou and Guizhou,China,and edible red ant（Oecophylla smaragdina Fabricius） from Thailand were determined.The major lipid components were triacylglycerol（43.4-79.4% of total lipid）,followed by phospholipids（6.1-21.5%）,diacylglycerol（6.1-18.1%） and cholesterol ester（4.9-13.5%） while free fatty acids（1.8-2.9%） and sterol（0.5-0.8%） were the minor components.Oleic acid（C18：1） was the most predominant fatty acid,accounting for 3 407.8,9 098.8 and 3 790.1 mg 100 g-1 in Wenzhou and Guizhou black ants,and Thai red ant,respectively.Followed by palmitic acid（C16：0）,922.9,2 523.3 and 1 511.8 mg 100 g-1;linoleic acid（C18：2n-6）,133.7,305.2 and 506.4 mg 100 g-1;α-linolenic acid（C18：3n-3）,35.1,138.0 and 52.5 mg 100 g-1;eicosapentaenoic acid（C20：5n-3） was 19.1,15.0 and 20.0 mg 100 g-1 in Wenzhou and Guizhou black ants,and Thai red ant,respectively.Docosapentaenoic acid（C22：5n-3） was only found in black ants,7.0 and 7.3 mg 100 g-1 for Wenzhou and Guizhou ants,respectively.The edible black and red ants were shown to be a good source of unsaturated fatty acid.