Table 4.
Studies investigating the functional effects of cannabinoid compounds on supraspinal release of GABA and glutamate, and on the firing of supraspinal GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons
| Cannabinoid | Effect | Brain Area | Species | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WIN55,212-2 | ||||
| In vitro electrophysiology | ↓IPSPs | HC neurons | Rat | Irving et al. (2000) |
| BLA | Rat | Katona et al. (2001) | ||
| Neocortex | Rat | Bodor et al. (2005) | ||
| PAG | Rat | Vaughan et al. (2000) | ||
| RVM | Rat | Vaughan et al. (1999) | ||
| HC slices | Rat | Hajos et al. (2000, 2001); Hoffman and Lupica (2000); Hajos and Freund (2002); Foldy et al. (2006) | ||
| Lateral amygdala | Mouse | Trettel and Levine (2002); Azad et al. (2003) | ||
| In vitro electrophysiology | ↓EPSPs | Prefrontal cortex | Rat | Auclair et al. (2000) |
| PAG | Rat | Vaughan et al. (2000) | ||
| HC slices | Rat | Hajos et al. (2001); Hajos and Freund (2002) | ||
| BLA, cortex | Mouse | Domenici et al. (2006) | ||
| Lateral amygdala | Mouse | Azad et al. (2003) | ||
| HC slices | Mouse | Misner and Sullivan (1999); Domenici et al. (2006) | ||
| In vitro release | ↓[3H]GABA | HC neurons | Rat | D'Amico et al. (2004) |
| HC slices | Rat | Katona et al. (1999) | ||
| Human | Katona et al. (2000) | |||
| ↑[3H]Glut | PFC neurons | Rat | Ferraro et al. (2001a) | |
| Microdialysis | ↓GABA | PFC | Rat | Ferraro et al. (2001a) |
| ↑Glutamate | PFC | Rat | Ferraro et al. (2001b) | |
| CP55,940 | ||||
| In vitro electrophysiology | ↓IPSPs | HC slices | Rat | Hajos et al. (2000) |
| BLA | Rat | Katona et al. (2001) | ||
| In vitro release | ↓[3H]GABA | HC neurons | Rat | D'Amico et al. (2004) |
| AM251 | ||||
| In vitro release | ↓[3H]GABA | HC slices | Rat | Neu et al. (2007) |
Abbreviations: BLA, basolateral amygdala; EPSPs, excitatory postsynaptic potentials; GABA, γ-aminobutyric acid; HC, hippocampus; IPSPs, inhibitory postsynaptic potentials; PAG, periaqueductal gray; PFC, prefrontal cortex; RVM, rostral ventromedial medulla.
Upwards or downwards arrows indicate increases or decreases, respectively, in the release of GABA and glutamate neurotransmitters, or in the firing of GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons, whereas no change is indicated by a ‘↔'. IPSPs and EPSPs are temporary changes in postsynaptic membrane potential caused by the flow of ions into or out of the cell. IPSPs are generally initiated by the activation of GABA receptors on the postsynaptic neuron and suppress the firing of the postsynaptic neuron, while glutamate receptor activation generally instigates EPSPs, which enhance the firing of the postsynaptic neuron.