Brain lesions induced in newborn mice or rats by the glutamatergic agonists ibotenate (acting on NMDA and metabotropic receptors) or S-bromowillardiine (acting on AMPA-kainate receptors) mimic some aspects of white matter cysts and transcortical necrosis observed in human perinatal brain damage associated with cerebral palsy. Exogenous and endogenous cannabinoids have received increasing attent...

The use of cannabis can impair cognitive function, especially short-term memory. A controversial question is whether long-term cannabis use during the late-adolescence period can cause irreversible deficits in higher brain function that persist after drug use stops. In order to examine the short- and long-term effects of chronic exposure to cannabinoids, rats were administered chronic i.p. trea...

Cannabinoids protect neurons from excitotoxic injury. We investigated the mechanisms involved by studying N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) toxicity in cultured murine cerebrocortical neurons in vitro and mouse cerebral cortex in vivo. The cannabinoid agonist R(+)-[2,3-dihydro-5-methyl-3-[(morpholinyl)-methyl]pyrrolo[1,2,3-de]-1,4-benzoxazin-yl]-(1-naphthalenyl)-methanone mesylate [R(+)-Win 55212] re...

Cultured neurons from the thoracolumbar sympathetic chain of newborn mice are known to possess release-inhibiting a2-autoreceptors. The present study was carried out in a search for release-modulating heteroreceptors on these neurons. Primary cultures were preincubated with [H]noradrenaline and then superfused and stimulated by single pulses, trains of 8 pulses at 100 Hz, or trains of 36 pulses...

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by the progressive loss of nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons leading to motor disturbances and cognitive impairment. Current pharmacotherapies relieve PD symptoms temporarily but fail to prevent or slow down the disease progression. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms by which the non-selective cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN55,21...

FUNCTIONAL REDISTRIBUTION OF HIPPOCAMPAL CANNABINOID CB1 RECEPTORS IN THE RAT PILOCARPINE MODEL OF ACQUIRED EPILEPSY Katherine W. Falenski, B.S. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2006 Director: Dr. Robert J. DeLorenzo, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H George Bliley P...

Previous evidence suggests that the endogenous cannabinoid system could emerge and be operative early during brain development. In the present study, we have explored the distribution of specific binding for cannabinoid receptors in rat brain at gestational day 21 (GD21), postnatal days 5 (PND5) and 30 (PND30), and at adult age (> 70 days after birth) by using autoradiography with [3H]CP-55,940...

Marijuana is used by humans for its psychoactive and medicinal effects. The active constituents of marijuana, the cannabinoids, exert effects via a G protein-coupled receptor, CB1. Two arachidonic acid analogs, N-arachidonylethanolamine and 2-arachidonylglycerol are hypothesized to function as endogenous ligands of the CB1 receptor. The cannabinoids exert significant vascular effects in humans ...