“Pathological anxiety is the most common type of psychiatric disorder. The current first-line anti-anxiety treatment, selective serotonin/noradrenalin reuptake inhibitors, produces a delayed onset of action with modest therapeutic and substantial adverse effects, and long-term use of the fast-acting anti-anxiety benzodiazepines causes severe adverse effects.
Inhibition of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), the endocannabinoid N-arachidonoylethanolamine (AEA) degradative enzyme, produces anti-anxiety effects without substantial “unwanted effects” of cannabinoids, but its anti-anxiety mechanism is unclear.
CONCLUSION:
We propose that the rapid anti-anxiety effects of FAAH inhibition are due to AEA activation of astroglial CB1R and subsequent basolateral amygdala LTD in vivo.”