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“Stressful conditions affect the brain’s neurotransmission and neural pathways that are involved in seizure susceptibility. Stress alters the intensity and/or frequency of seizures.
Although evidence indicates that chronic stress exerts proconvulsant effects and acute stress has anticonvulsant properties, the underlying mechanisms which mediate these effects are not well understood.
In the present study, we assessed the role of endogenous opioids, endocannabinoids, as well as functional interaction between opioid and cannabinoid systems in the anticonvulsant effects of acute foot-shock stress (FSS) against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizures in mice.
Category Archives: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
A Brief Background on Cannabis: From Plant to Medical Indications.
“Cannabis has been used as a medicinal plant for thousands of years.
As a result of centuries of breeding and selection, there are now over 700 varieties of cannabis that contain hundreds of compounds, including cannabinoids and terpenes.
Cannabinoids are fatty compounds that are the main biological active constituents of cannabis. Terpenes are volatile compounds that occur in many plants and have distinct odors.
Cannabinoids exert their effect on the body by binding to receptors, specifically cannabinoid receptors types 1 and 2. These receptors, together with endogenous cannabinoids and the systems for synthesis, transport, and degradation, are called the Endocannabinoid System.
The two most prevalent and commonly known cannabinoids in the cannabis plant are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol.
The speed, strength, and type of effects of cannabis vary based on the route of administration. THC is rapidly distributed through the body to fatty tissues like the brain and is metabolized by the cytochrome P450 system to 11-hydroxy-THC, which is also psychoactive.
Cannabis and cannabinoids have been indicated for several medical conditions.
There is evidence of efficacy in the symptomatic treatment of nausea and vomiting, pain, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, loss of appetite, Tourette’s syndrome, and epilepsy. Cannabis has also been associated with treatment for glaucoma, Huntington’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and dystonia, but there is not good evidence to support its efficacy. Side effects of cannabis include psychosis and anxiety, which can be severe.
Here, we provided a summary of the history of cannabis, its pharmacology, and its medical uses.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30139415
Cannabidiol as a Therapeutic Alternative for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: From Bench Research to Confirmation in Human Trials.
“Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by poor adaptation to a traumatic experience. This disorder affects approximately 10% of people at some point in life. Current pharmacological therapies for PTSD have been shown to be inefficient and produce considerable side effects.
Since the discovery of the involvement of the endocannabinoid (eCB) system in emotional memory processing, pharmacological manipulation of eCB signaling has become a therapeutic possibility for the treatment of PTSD.
Cannabidiol (CBD), a phytocannabinoid constituent of Cannabis sativa without the psychoactive effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, has gained particular attention. Preclinical studies in different rodent behavioral models have shown that CBD can both facilitate the extinction of aversive memories and block their reconsolidation, possibly through potentialization of the eCB system.
These results, combined with the currently available pharmacological treatments for PTSD being limited, necessitated testing CBD use with the same therapeutic purpose in humans as well.
Indeed, as observed in rodents, recent studies have confirmed the ability of CBD to alter important aspects of aversive memories in humans and promote significant improvements in the symptomatology of PTSD.
The goal of this review was to highlight the potential of CBD as a treatment for disorders related to inappropriate retention of aversive memories, by assessing evidence from preclinical to human experimental studies.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30087591
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2018.00502/full
“The endocannabinoid system is an increasingly recognised pharmacological target for treating stress and anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recent preclinical developments have implicated the endocannabinoid system in stress responses, emotional memories and fear extinction, all critical to PTSD aetiology. However, preclinical research in endocannabinoid biology has neglected the influential role of sex hormone differences on PTSD symptomology, which is particularly important given that PTSD is twice as common in women as in men. In this review, we compile and consider the evidence that the endocannabinoid system is influenced by ovarian hormones, with application to stress disorders such as PTSD. It is clear that therapeutic modulation of the endocannabinoid system needs to be approached with awareness of ovarian hormonal influences, and knowledge of these influences may enhance treatment outcomes for female PTSD populations.”
“Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by the reexperiencing of a traumatic event and is associated with slower extinction of fear responses.
Impaired extinction of fearful associations to trauma-related cues may interfere with treatment response, and extinction deficits may be premorbid risk factors for the development of PTSD.
We examined the effects of exposure to a severe footshock followed by situational reminders (SRs) on extinction, plasticity, and endocannabinoid (eCB) content and activity in the hippocampal CA1 area and basolateral amygdala (BLA).
The findings suggest that targeting the eCB system before extinction may be beneficial in fear memory attenuation and these effects may involve metaplasticity in the CA1 and BLA.”
“Early-life stress (ELS) creates life-long vulnerability to stress-related anxiety disorders through altering stress and fear systems in the brain.
The 
“Long term exposure to stress has been demonstrated to cause neuroinflammation through a sustained overproduction of free radicals, including nitric oxide, via an increased inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity.
Similar to nitric oxide, endocannabinoids are synthesised on demand, with preclinical observations suggesting that cannabinoid receptor agonists and endocannabinoid enhancers inhibit nitrergic activity.
RESULTS:
The results demonstrate that pre-treatment with PF-3845 rapidly ameliorates plasma corticosterone release at 60 minutes of stress. An increase in endocannabinoid signalling also induces an overall attenuation in iNOS, tumor necrosis factor-alpha convertase, interleukin-6, cyclooxygenase-2, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma mRNA, and the transactivation potential of NF-κB in the hippocampus.