The ventral portion of the medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) has been related to the expression of contextual fear conditioning. This study investigated the possible involvement of CB1 receptors in this aversive response. Male Wistar rats were submitted to a contextual aversive conditioning session and 48 h later re-exposed to the aversive context in which freezing and cardiovascular responses (...

Endocannabinoids and CB1 receptors have been implicated in endotoxin (LPS)-induced hypotension: LPS stimulates the synthesis of anandamide in macrophages, and the CB1 antagonist SR-141716 inhibits the hypotension induced by treatment of rats with LPS or LPS-treated macrophages. Recent evidence indicates the existence of cannabinoid receptors distinct from CB1 or CB2 that are inhibited by SR-141...

Studies show that cancer cell invasion or metastasis is the primary cause of death in malignancies including breast cancer. The existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in breast cancer may account for tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis. Recent studies have reported different effects of cannabinoids on cancer cells via CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors. In the present study, the effects...

Addictive behavior is increasingly accepted as a drug-associated pathological memory in which the hippocampus is profoundly engaged. It has been well documented that adaptations of synaptic plasticity of excitatory transmission in the hippocampus may contribute to opioid addiction. However, it remains unknown whether and how adaptive changes of synaptic plasticity of inhibitory transmission in ...

Cannabinoid agonists impair hippocampus-dependent learning and memory. Using mouse hippocampal slice preparations, we examined the effect of anandamide, an endogenous cannabinoid, on sharp wave-ripple (SW-R) complexes, which are believed to mediate memory consolidation during slow-wave sleep or behavioral immobility. Anandamide reduced the frequency of SW-Rs recorded from the CA3 region, and th...

1-(4-Chlorophenyl)-3-[3-(6-pyrrolidin-1-ylpyridin-2-yl)phenyl] urea (PSNCBAM-1) has recently been described as a cannabinoid CB1 receptor allosteric antagonist associated with hypophagic effects in vivo; however, PSNCBAM-1 effects on CB(1) ligand-mediated modulation of neuronal excitability remain unknown. Here, we investigate PSNCBAM-1 actions on CB(1) receptor-stimulated guanosine 5'-O-(3-[(3...

This study investigated the participation of the hypothalamic endocannabinoid system in the response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge evaluating oxytocin (OXT) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) plasma levels in vivo and their release from hypothalamic fragments in vitro. LPS increased OXT and TNF-alpha release through anandamide-activation of hypothalamic cannabinoid receptor CB(...