RATIONALE The cannabinoid system consists of a complex array of receptors, substances with agonist/antagonist properties for those receptors, biosynthetic machineries and mechanisms for cellular uptake and degradation for endocannabinoids. This system is in interrelation with other systems that comprise lipid mediators like prostaglandins/leukotrienes systems. A clear antagonist, additive or sy...

introduction: it has been shown that administration of win55,212-2, a cannabinoid receptor agonist, into the basolateral amygdala (bla), dose-dependently increases the thermal latency to withdrawal in the tail-.ick test and decreases pain related behaviors in both phases of the formalin test. recent human and animal imaging data suggest that the nucleus accumbens (nac) is an important neural su...

Cannabinoid receptors are the most abundant G protein-coupled receptors in the brain and they mediate retrograde short-term inhibition of neurotransmitter release, as well as long-term depression of synaptic transmission at many excitatory synapses. The induction of presynaptically silent synapses is a means of modulating synaptic strength, which is important for synaptic plasticity. Persistent...

Ovarian steroids, estrogen and progesterone, influence the sensitivity of certain neural processes to cannabinoid treatment by modulation of brain dopaminergic activity. We examined the effects of the active ingredient of cannabis, Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), on sexual behavior in female rats and its influence on steroid hormone receptors and neurotransmitters in the facilitation of se...

It is known that marijuana smoking and administration of natural cannabinoids reduce intraocular pressure. However, it has not been established whether the intraocular pressure-lowering effects of cannabinoids are mediated by cannabinoid receptors. Aminoalkylindoles are a new class of cannabimimetics with structures entirely different from those of natural cannabinoids. WIN55212-2, a prototypic...

The endocannabinoid system comprises the two well characterized Gi/o -protein coupled receptors (cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) and CB2), their endogenous lipid ligands, and the enzymes involved in their biosynthesis and biotransformation. Drug discovery efforts relating to the endocannabinoid system have been focused mainly on the two cannabinoid receptors and the two endocannabinoid deactivatin...

Neuroimmune networks and the brain endocannabinoid system contribute to the maintenance of neurogenesis. Activation of cannabinoid receptors suppresses chronic inflammatory responses through the attenuation of pro-inflammatory mediators. Moreover, the endocannabinoid system directs cell fate specification of NSCs (neural stem cells) in the CNS (central nervous system). The aim of our work is to...

Endocannabinoids act as retrograde messengers that, by inhibiting neurotransmitter release via presynaptic CB(1) cannabinoid receptors, regulate the functionality of many synapses. In addition, the endocannabinoid system participates in the control of neuron survival. Thus, CB(1) receptor activation has been shown to protect neurons from acute brain injury as well as in neuroinflammatory condit...