“The endocannabinoid system (ECS) has been recently recognized as a prominent promoter of the emotional homeostasis, mediating the effects of different environmental signals including rewarding and stressing stimuli. The complex influences of the ECS on both the environmental and internal stimuli processing, make the cannabinoid-based drugs an appealing option to treat different psychiatric conditions. In particular, better knowledge of the multifaceted effects of cannabinoids could help to understand how to boost their therapeutic use in anxiety and depression treatment.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30515077 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2018.00424/full]]>
Category Archives: Anxiety
Cannabidiol modulates serotonergic transmission and reverses both allodynia and anxiety-like behavior in a model of neuropathic pain
“Clinical studies indicate that cannabidiol (CBD), the primary nonaddictive component of cannabis that interacts with the serotonin (5-HT)1A receptor, may possess analgesic and anxiolytic effects.
Overall, repeated treatment with low-dose CBD induces analgesia predominantly through TRPV1 activation, reduces anxiety through 5-HT1A receptor activation, and rescues impaired 5-HT neurotransmission under neuropathic pain conditions.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30157131
https://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=00006396-900000000-98870
Inhibition of Monoacylglycerol Lipase Reduces the Reinstatement of Methamphetamine-Seeking and Anxiety-Like Behaviors in Methamphetamine Self-Administered Rats.
RESULTS:
JZL184 (32 and 40 mg/kg, i.p.), an inhibitor of monoacylglycerol lipase, significantly attenuated both the cue- and stress-induced reinstatement of methamphetamine-seeking behavior. Furthermore, URB597 (3.2 and 10 mg/kg, i.p.), an inhibitor of fatty acid amide hydrolase, attenuated only cue-induced reinstatement. AM251, a cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist, antagonized the attenuation of cue-induced reinstatement by JZL184 but not URB597. Neither JZL184 nor URB597 reinstated methamphetamine-seeking behavior when administered alone. In the elevated plus-maze test, rats that were in withdrawal from methamphetamine self-administration spent less time in the open arms. JZL184 ameliorated the decrease in time spent in the open arms.CONCLUSION:
We showed that JZL184 reduced both the cue- and stress-induced reinstatement of methamphetamine-seeking and anxiety-like behaviors in rats that had self-administered methamphetamine. It was suggested that a decrease in 2-arachidonoylglycerol in the brain could drive the reinstatement of methamphetamine-seeking and anxiety-like behaviors.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30481332 https://academic.oup.com/ijnp/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ijnp/pyy086/5210886Cannabis and the Anxiety of Fragmentation-A Systems Approach for Finding an Anxiolytic Cannabis Chemotype.
“Cannabis sativa is a medicinal herb with a diverse range of chemotypes that can exert both anxiolytic and anxiogenic effects on humans. Medical cannabis patients receiving organically grown cannabis from a single source were surveyed about the effectiveness of cannabis for treating anxiety.
Patients rated cannabis as highly effective overall for treating anxiety with an average score of 8.03 on a Likert scale of 0 to 10 (0 = not effective, 10 = extremely effective).
Patients also identified which strains they found the most or least effective for relieving their symptoms of anxiety. To find correlations between anxiolytic activity and chemotype, the top four strains voted most and least effective were analyzed by HPLC-MS/MS to quantify cannabinoids and GC-MS to quantify terpenes. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and trans-nerolidol have statistically significant correlations with increased anxiolytic activity.
Guiaol, eucalyptol, γ-terpinene, α-phellandrene, 3-carene, and sabinene hydrate all have significant correlations with decreased anxiolytic activity. Further studies are needed to better elucidate the entourage effects that contribute to the anxiolytic properties of cannabis varieties.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30405331
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2018.00730/full
“Research interest has grown around the potential therapeutic use of 
“Among the many cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, 
“Beta (β)-caryophyllene (BCAR) is a major sesquiterpene of various plant essential oils reported for several important pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, gastroprotective, nephroprotective, antimicrobial, and immune-modulatory activity. Recent studies suggest that it also possesses neuroprotective effect.
This study reviews published reports pertaining to the neuropharmacological activities of BCAR. Databases such as PubMed, Scopus, MedLine Plus, and Google Scholar with keywords “beta (β)-caryophyllene” and other neurological keywords were searched. Data were extracted by referring to articles with information about the dose or concentration/route of administration, test system, results and discussion, and proposed mechanism of action.
A total of 545 research articles were recorded, and 41 experimental studies were included in this review, after application of exclusion criterion. Search results suggest that BCAR exhibits a protective role in a number of nervous system-related disorders including pain, anxiety, spasm, convulsion, depression, alcoholism, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Additionally, BCAR has local anesthetic-like activity, which could protect the nervous system from oxidative stress and inflammation and can act as an immunomodulatory agent. Most neurological activities of this natural product have been linked with the cannabinoid receptors (CBRs), especially the CB2R. This review suggests a possible application of BCAR as a neuroprotective agent.”
“Following the discovery of the endocannabinoid system and its potential as a therapeutic target for various pathological conditions, growing interest led researchers to investigate the role of cannabis and its derivatives for medical purposes. The compounds Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and 
“Clinical studies indicate that cannabidiol (CBD), the primary non-addictive component of