One of the major signs of severe organophosphate poisoning is seizures. Previous studies have shown that both muscarinic agonist- and organophosphate-induced seizures require activation of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in the central nervous system. Seizures induced by the muscarinic agonist pilocarpine require the M1 receptor and are modulated by cannabinoid CB1 receptors. In this study, ...

Cannabinoids, including the endogenous ligand anandamide, elicit pronounced hypotension and bradycardia through the activation of CB1 cannabinoid receptors. A second endogenous cannabinoid, 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG), has been proposed to be the natural ligand of CB1 receptors. In the present study, we examined the effects of 2-AG on mean arterial pressure and heart rate in anesthetized mic...

Cannabinoids act at the CB1 receptor to inhibit adenylate cyclase activity via a pertussis toxin-sensitive G-protein. Within the striatum, CB1 receptors have been shown to be localized on the same neurons as Gi-coupled dopamine D2 receptors. In this study we have examined the interactions of CB1 and D2 receptors on adenylate cyclase. In striatal neurons in primary culture, both the CB1 receptor...

Cannabinoids suppress neuropathic pain through activation of cannabinoid CB1 and/or CB2 receptors; however, unwanted CB1-mediated cannabimimetic effects limit clinical use. We asked whether CP55,940 [(-)-3-[2-hydroxy-4-(1,1-dimethylheptyl)phenyl]-4-(3-hydroxypropyl)cyclohexanol], a potent cannabinoid that binds with similar affinity to CB1 and CB2 in vitro, produces functionally separable CB1- ...

Clinical usage of cannabinoids in chronic pain states is limited by their central side effects and the pharmacodynamic tolerance that sets in after repeated dosage. Analgesic tolerance to cannabinoids in vivo could be caused by agonist-induced downregulation and intracellular trafficking of cannabinoid receptors, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved. We show here that the...

This study was performed to assess whether mice lacking the cannabinoid receptor CB1, CB2 or both receptors show increased susceptibility to TNBS colitis in comparison to wildtype mice. Previously, activation of CB1 and CB2 receptors showed attenuation of TNBS colitis in mice. The aim of the study was to investigate the susceptibility of three mouse strains CB1-, CB2- and CB1+2 double knockout ...

Cannabinoid receptors are the targets of the psychoactive component of the plant Cannabis sativa (marijuana), delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Type-1 cannabinoid receptors (CB1) are the G protein coupled receptors most abundantly expressed in the brain and mediate most of the effects of THC. Our recent work demonstrated that CB1 receptors are expressed in many different brain cells where the...

The cannabinoid signaling system includes two G protein-coupled receptors, CB1 and CB2 These receptors are widely distributed throughout the body and have each been implicated in many physiologically important processes. Although the cannabinoid signaling system has therapeutic potential, the development of receptor-selective ligands remains a persistent hurdle. Because CB1 and CB2 are involved...

Objective(s): Targeting the neuropeptide systems has been shown to be useful for the development of more effective antipsychotic drugs. Neurotensin, an endogenous neuropeptide, appears to be involved in the mechanism of action of antipsychotics. However, the available data provide conflicting results and the mechanism(s) by which antipsychotics affect brain neurotensin neurotransmission have no...

Electroacupuncture (EA) has been regarded as an alternative treatment for inflammatory pain for several decades. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the antinociceptive effect of EA have not been thoroughly clarified. Previous studies have shown that cannabinoid CB1 receptors are related to pain relief. Accumulating evidence has shown that the CB1 and dopamine systems sometimes interac...