Naltrexone does not attenuate the effects of intravenous Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in healthy humans.
Mohini Ranganathan, Michelle Carbuto, Gabriel Braley, Jaqueline Elander, Edward Perry, Brian Pittman, Rajiv Radhakrishnan, Richard A Sewell, Deepak C D'Souza
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology October 2012 DOI: 10.1017/s1461145711001830 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized, double-blind, fixed-order human laboratory study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Healthy human subjects who use cannabis intermittently, screened for medical or psychiatric illness |
| Interventions | Naltrexone Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) |
| Dose | naltrexone 25 mg orally; THC 0.025 mg/kg intravenously |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key points | Naltrexone (25 mg) did not produce effects on its own and did not attenuate any of THC's acute subjective, behavioral, or cognitive effects, including euphoria, anxiety, transient perceptual alterations, psychotomimetic effects, and cognitive impairment. The authors conclude that mu-opioid receptor antagonism does not modulate THC's common acute effects in intermittent cannabis users. |
Abstract
Although a wealth of preclinical evidence indicates an interplay between the μ-opioid (MOR) and cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) systems, the precise nature of the cross modulation in humans is unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of pretreatment with the MOR antagonist, naltrexone, on the subjective, behavioural and cognitive effects of the CB1R agonist, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), in healthy human subjects. Healthy human subjects, screened carefully for any medical or psychiatric illness, were administered either placebo or active naltrexone (25 mg) orally on each test day, followed 45 min later by placebo and 165 min later by active i.v. THC (0.025 mg/kg) in a randomized, fixed-order, double-blind manner. Subjective, behavioural and cognitive effects were assessed before and at several points after each drug administration. THC produced expected effects, including euphoria, anxiety, transient perceptual alterations, transient psychotomimetic effects and cognitive impairments. However, naltrexone did not produce any effects alone, nor did it attenuate any of THC's effects. Thus, in healthy human subjects who use cannabis intermittently, MOR antagonism does not modulate the common acute subjective, behavioural and cognitive effects of THC.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on cannabis, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cannabidiol inhibits THC-elicited paranoid symptoms and hippocampal-dependent memory impairment Healthy participants | 2012 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 48 |
| Distinct Effects of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol on Neural Activation During Emotional Processing Healthy, English-native, right-handed men who had used cannabis 15 times or less in... | 2009 | Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial | n = 15 |
| Acute Effects of a Single, Oral dose of d9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) Administration in Healthy Volunteers Healthy male subjects | 2012 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 16 |
| Modulation of Mediotemporal and Ventrostriatal Function in Humans by Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Healthy, native English-speaking, right-handed men of white race/ethnicity who had used... | 2009 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 15 |
| Cannabidiol (CBD) content in vaporized cannabis does not prevent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-induced impairment of driving and cognition Healthy volunteers with a history of light cannabis use | 2019 | Randomized, double-blind, within-subjects crossover | n = 14 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- Human Laboratory Studies on Cannabinoids and Psychosis. Biological Psychiatry April 1, 2016
- Acute effects of partial CB1 receptor agonists on cognition - A meta-analysis of human studies. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry August 10, 2020
- Cannabis effects on brain structure, function, and cognition: considerations for medical uses of cannabis and its derivatives The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse July 31, 2019
- The acute effects of cannabis on human executive function Behavioural Pharmacology September 7, 2018
- Are Alcohol Anti-relapsing and Alcohol Withdrawal Drugs Useful in Cannabinoid Users? Neurotoxicity Research November 1, 2016
and 2 more in the library
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