A single dose study of nabilone, a synthetic cannabinoid.
R M Glass, E H Uhlenhuth, F W Hartel, C R Schuster, M W Fischman
Psychopharmacology 1980 DOI: 10.1007/bf00434401 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Single-blind balanced Latin square dose-response study with follow-up Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 8 |
| Population | Anxious volunteer subjects (four in the main experiment, four in a follow-up) |
| Intervention | Nabilone |
| Dose | 1, 2, 4, or 5 mg (test dose range determined individually; follow-up used comparatively lower doses) |
| Duration | Doses given at 1 week intervals; follow-up experiment duration not stated |
| Measures | Profile of Mood States (POMS), continuous avoidance procedure, heart rate, blood pressure |
| Key points | High doses of nabilone (4 or 5 mg) produced orthostatic hypotension and small heart-rate increases, and significant subjective sedation, but no significant effect on continuous avoidance behavior. Two of four subjects showed anti-anxiety effects at low doses (1 or 2 mg), but the group mean POMS anxiety factor did not change significantly, and a follow-up with four other subjects at lower doses found no anti-anxiety effects. |
Abstract
The effects of single oral doses of nabilone, a synthetic cannabinoid, were studied in four anxious volunteer subjects. Each subject had two exposures to placebo and three dose levels of nabilone at 1 week intervals in a single blind balanced Latin square design after the nabilone dose range was determined by each subject's response to a test dose. The Profile of Mood States (POMS), a self-rating adjective checklist, was used as the quantitative measure of subjective effects. The subjects performed a continuous avoidance procedure. High doses (4 or 5 mg) of nabilone produced orthostatic hypotension. Small dose-related increases in heart rate also occurred. Despite the occurrence of highly significant levels of subjective sedation, there were no significant effects of nabilone on behavior maintained by the continuous avoidance procedure. Two of these subjects experienced an anti-anxiety effect from low (1 or 2 mg) nabilone doses, but there was no statistically significant effect on the mean POMS anxiety factor for the group as a whole. In a follow-up experiment, four other anxious subjects received comparatively lower doses of nabilone. In these subjects there were no important effects on blood pressure or heart rate, and also no anti-anxiety effects.