Cannabidiol modulates serotonergic transmission and reverses both allodynia and anxiety-like behavior in a model of neuropathic pain (animal)

This 2019 experiment studied the effect of cannabidiol (CBD) – primary non-addictive component of cannabis associated with possessing analgesic and anxiolytic properties – on neuropathic pain using rats. Repeated treatment with CBD (5 mg/kg/day, subcutaneously [s.c.], for 7 days) was shown to increase serotonin (5-HT) neuronal firing through desensitisation of 5-HT1A receptors. Rats subjected to the spared nerve injury model for 24 days showed decreased 5-HT firing activity, mechanical allodynia (condition where pain is caused by a stimulus that does not normally elicit pain), and increased anxiety-like behavior but seven days of CBD treatment reduced mechanical allodynia, decreased anxiety-like behavior and normalised 5-HT activity. De Gregorio and colleagues (2019) discovered that 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. [NPID: pain, cannabis, CBD, animal, 5-HT1A receptors, serotonin, anxiety, neuropathic pain]

Year: 2019

Reference: De Gregorio, D., McLaughlin, R. J., Posa, L., Ochoa-Sanchez, R., Enns, J., Lopez-Canul, M., Aboud, M., Maione, S., Comai, S., & Gobbi, G. (2019). Cannabidiol modulates serotonergic transmission and reverses both allodynia and anxiety-like behavior in a model of neuropathic pain. Pain, 160(1), 136–150. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001386

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