  We explore patterns of effective restoration of the chiral U$_A$(1) symmetry
using an extended three-flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model that incorporates
explicitly the axial anomaly through the 't Hooft interaction, and assuming
that the coefficient of the anomaly term is temperature and density dependent.
The special case of explicit breaking of chiral symmetry without U$_A$(1)
anomaly is also considered, since this scenario can provide additional
information allowing to understand the interplay between the U$_A$(1) anomaly
and (spontaneous) chiral symmetry breaking effects. The pseudoscalar and scalar
sectors are analyzed in detail bearing in mind the identification of chiral
partners and the study of its convergence. We also concentrate on the behavior
of the mixing angles that give us relevant information on the issue under
discussion. In the region of temperatures (densities) studied, we do not
observe signs indicating a full restoration of U(3)$\otimes$U(3) symmetry as,
for instance, the degeneracy of both $a_0$ and $f_0$ mesons with the pion. As
we work in a real world scenario ($m_u=m_d<<m_s$), we only observe the return
to symmetries of the classical QCD Lagrangian in the non-strange sector.
