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