Cannabis Use and Endocannabinoid Receptor Genes: A Pilot Study on Their Interaction on Brain Activity in First-Episode Psychosis
International Journal of Molecular Sciences April 19, 2023 Maitane Oscoz-Irurozqui, Carmen Almodóvar-Payá, Maria Guardiola-Ripoll et al. 2 citations
In patients with first-episode psychosis, cannabis use and genetic variants in cannabinoid receptor genes jointly affect brain activity in regions linked to reward, including the caudate nucleus, cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex. The study genotyped 40 patients (half cannabis users, half non-users) for two single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the CNR1 and CNR2 genes and measured brain activity with fMRI during a working-memory task. Interaction models showed that cannabis use combined with specific genotypes influenced activation in these areas, suggesting a joint role for cannabis and genetic background in brain function during early psychosis.