• Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Jul 2012

    Review

    Effects induced by cannabinoids on monoaminergic systems in the brain and their implications for psychiatric disorders.

    • Susana Esteban and Jesús A García-Sevilla.
    • Laboratorio de Neurofarmacología, Institut Universitari d'Investigació en Ciències de la Salut (IUNICS), Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB), Palma de Mallorca, Spain. susana.esteban@uib.es
    • Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry. 2012 Jul 2; 38 (1): 78-87.

    AbstractThe endocannabinoid system and CB(1) receptors participate in the control of emotional behavior and mood through a functional coupling with the classic monoaminergic systems. In general, the acute stimulation of CB(1) receptors increases the activity (spontaneous firing rate) of noradrenergic (NE), serotonergic (5-HT) and dopaminergic (DA) neurons as well as the synthesis and/or release of the corresponding neurotransmitter in specific brain regions. Notably, the antagonist/inverse agonist rimonabant (SR141617A) can decrease the basal activity of NE and 5-HT neurons, suggesting a tonic/constitutive regulation of these neuronal systems by endocannabinoids acting at CB(1) receptors. Monoaminergic systems are modulated via CB(1) receptors by direct or indirect effects depending on the localization of this inhibitory receptor, which can be present on monoaminergic neurons themselves and/or inhibitory (GABAergic) and/or excitatory (glutamatergic) regulatory neurons. The repeated stimulation of CB(1) receptors is not associated with the induction of tolerance (receptor desensitization) on the activity of NE, 5-HT and DA neurons, in contrast to chronic agonist effects on neurotransmitter synthesis and/or release in some brain regions. CB(1) receptor desensitization may alter the direct and/or indirect effects of cannabinoid drugs modulating the functionality of monoaminergic systems. The sustained activation of monoaminergic neurons by cannabinoid drugs can also be related to changes in the function of presynaptic inhibitory α(2)-adrenoceptors or 5-HT(1A) receptors (autoreceptors and heteroreceptors), whose sensitivity is downregulated or upregulated upon chronic CB(1) agonist exposure. The functional interactions between endocannabinoids and monoaminergic systems in the brain indicate a potential role for CB(1) receptor signaling in the neurobiology of various psychiatric disorders, including major depression and schizophrenia as the major syndromes.Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…