Opioid abuse is a growing global problem. Current therapies for opioid target withdrawal symptoms and have several adverse side effects. There are no treatments to address opioid-induced neural adaptations associated with addiction. Preclinical research demonstrates interactions between the endogenous cannabinoid systems, suggesting that cannabinoids may be used treat addiction dependence. The ...

The ACTOne cannabinoid receptor 1 functional system is comprised of transfected HEK cells with the parental cyclic nucleotide gated channel (CNG) co-transfected with cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1). The ACTOne CB1 cell line was evaluated for cAMP driven fluorescence by optimizing experimental conditions for sensitivity to forskolin and CP 55,940, reading time point, reliability of cell passage num...

What are endocannabinoids? THC and WIN are examples of exogenous cannabinoid receptor ligands, but the body makes its own ligands, too, and these are referred to as endocannabinoids. Two of the best-characterized endocannabinoids are anandamide and 2-arachidonylglycerol (2AG). Other candidate endocannabinoids have been identified but which, if any, of these compounds are physiologically relevan...

There have been numerous studies reporting that cannabinoids, both exogenous and endogenous, have a potential beneficial function during incidences of neurological damage. Using gene knockout mice and cannabinoid-selective agents, this study demonstrates the diverse actions of cannabinoids with a particular focus on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of multiple sclerosi...

The effects of endogenous and synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, including 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), R-methanandamide, WIN55,212-2 [4,5-dihydro-2-methyl-4(4-morpholinylmethyl)-1-(1-naphthalenylcarbonyl)-6H-pyrrolo[3,2,1ij]quinolin-6-one], and CP 55,940 [1alpha,2beta-(R)-5alpha]-(-)-5-(1,1-dimethyl)-2-[5-hydroxy-2-(3-hydroxypropyl) cyclohexyl-phenol], and the psychoactive constituent ...

Cannabinoids can mimic the infarct-reducing effect of early ischemic preconditioning, delayed ischemic preconditioning, and ischemic postconditioning against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion. They do this primarily through both CB1 and CB2 receptors. Cannabinoids are also involved in remote preconditioning of the heart. The cannabinoid receptor ligands also exhibit an antiapoptotic effect during...

Using RNA (Northern) blot hybridization and reverse transcription-PCR, we demonstrate that the brain-type cannabinoid receptor (CB1-R) mRNA, but not the spleen-type cannabinoid receptor (CB2-R) mRNA, is expressed in the mouse uterus and that this organ has the capacity to synthesize the putative endogenous cannabinoid ligand, anandamide (arachidonylethanolamide). The psychoactive cannabinoid co...

Highlighting the association between schizophrenia and cannabis sativa and the endogenous cannabinoid receptor system, respectively, two opposite aspects are of major relevance. On the one hand, there is substantial evidence that cannabis has to be classified as an independent risk factor for psychosis that may lead to a worse outcome of the disease. This risk seems to be increased in genetical...

Neurocognitive effects of cannabinoids have been extensively studied with a focus on CB1 cannabinoid receptors because CB1 receptors have been considered the major cannabinoid receptor in the nervous system. However, recent discoveries of CB2 cannabinoid receptors in the brain demand accurate determination of whether and how CB2 receptors are involved in the cognitive effects of cannabinoids. C...