NeuropharmacologyOctober 2017Robert A Owens, Mohammed A Mustafa, Bogna M Ignatowska-Jankowska et al.
Substantial challenges exist for investigating the cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1)-mediated discriminative stimulus effects of the endocannabinoids, 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and N-arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide; AEA), compared with exogenous CB1 receptor agonists, such as Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and the synthetic cannabinoid CP55,940. Specifically, each endocannabinoid is...
Incomplete overlap in the discriminative stimulus effects of Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and the endocannabinoids, anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol has been reported in food-reinforced tasks. The aim of this study was to examine cannabinoid discriminative stimulus effects in a nonappetitive procedure. Adult male mice lacking the gene for AEA's major metabolic enzyme, fatty acid...
Whereas the inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) or monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), the respective major hydrolytic enzymes of N-arachidonoyl ethanolamine (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), elicits no or partial substitution for Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in drug-discrimination procedures, combined inhibition of both enzymes fully substitutes for THC, as well as produces a...
Cannabinoids have long been shown to have a range of potential therapeutic effects, including antiemetic actions, analgesia, and anxiolysis. However, psychomimetic and memory disruptive side effects, as well as the potential for abuse and dependence, have restricted their clinical development. Endogenous cannabinoids (i.e., endocannabinoids; eCBs), such as anandamide (AEA) and...
The medicinal properties of marijuana have been recognized for centuries, but clinical and societal acceptance of this drug of abuse as a potential therapeutic agent remains fiercely debated. An attractive alternative to marijuana-based therapeutics would be to target the molecular pathways that mediate the effects of this drug. To date, these neural signaling pathways have been shown to...