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Hen-Shoval D, Indig-Naimer T, Moshe L, Kogan NM, Zaidan H, Gaisler-Salomon I, Okun E, Mechoulam R, Shoval G, Zalsman G, Weller A. Unraveling the molecular basis of cannabidiolic acid methyl Ester's anti-depressive effects in a rat model of treatment-resistant depression. J Psychiatr Res 2024; 175:50-59. [PMID: 38704981 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.04.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Revised: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) stands as a significant cause of disability globally. Cannabidiolic Acid-Methyl Ester (CBDA-ME) (EPM-301, HU-580), a derivative of Cannabidiol, demonstrates immediate antidepressant-like effects, yet it has undergone only minimal evaluation in psychopharmacology. Our goal was to investigate the behavioral and potential molecular mechanisms associated with the chronic oral administration of this compound in the Wistar Kyoto (WKY) genetic model of treatment-resistant depression. Male WKY rats were subjected to behavioral assessments before and after receiving chronic (14-day) oral doses of CBDA-ME (0.5 mg/kg), 15 mg/kg of imipramine or vehicle. At the end of the study, plasma corticosterone levels and mRNA expression of various genes in the medial Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus were measured. Behavioral outcomes from CBDA-ME treatment indicated an antidepressant-like effect similar to imipramine, as oral ingestion reduced immobility and increased swimming duration in the Forced Swim Test. Neither treatment influenced locomotion in the Open Field Test nor preference in the Saccharin Preference Test. The behavioral impact in WKY rats coincided with reduced corticosterone serum levels, upregulated mRNA expression of Cannabinoid receptor 1, Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase, and Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Receptor 1, alongside downregulation of the Serotonin Transporter in the hippocampus. Additionally, there was an upregulation of CB1 mRNA expression and downregulation of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in the mPFC. These findings contribute to our limited understanding of the antidepressant effects of CBDA-ME and shed light on its potential psychopharmacological mechanisms. This discovery opens up possibilities for utilizing cannabinoids in the treatment of major depressive disorder and related conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Hen-Shoval
- Psychology Department, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel; Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
| | - T Indig-Naimer
- Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - L Moshe
- Psychology Department, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel; Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - N M Kogan
- Institute of Personalized and Translational Medicine, Molecular Biology, Ariel University, Ariel, 4070000, Israel
| | - H Zaidan
- School of Psychological Sciences and the Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - I Gaisler-Salomon
- School of Psychological Sciences and the Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - E Okun
- Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel; The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Israel; The Paul Feder laboratory for Alzheimer disease research, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel; Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - R Mechoulam
- Institute for Drug Research, Medical Faculty, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - G Shoval
- Geha Mental Health Center, Petah Tiqva, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - G Zalsman
- Geha Mental Health Center, Petah Tiqva, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Division of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - A Weller
- Psychology Department, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel; Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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Coelho A, Lima-Bastos S, Gobira P, Lisboa S. Endocannabinoid signaling and epigenetics modifications in the neurobiology of stress-related disorders. Neuronal Signal 2023; 7:NS20220034. [PMID: 37520658 PMCID: PMC10372471 DOI: 10.1042/ns20220034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Stress exposure is associated with psychiatric conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is also a vulnerability factor to developing or reinstating substance use disorder. Stress causes several changes in the neuro-immune-endocrine axis, potentially resulting in prolonged dysfunction and diseases. Changes in several transmitters, including serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glucocorticoids, and cytokines, are associated with psychiatric disorders or behavioral alterations in preclinical studies. Complex and interacting mechanisms make it very difficult to understand the physiopathology of psychiatry conditions; therefore, studying regulatory mechanisms that impact these alterations is a good approach. In the last decades, the impact of stress on biology through epigenetic markers, which directly impact gene expression, is under intense investigation; these mechanisms are associated with behavioral alterations in animal models after stress or drug exposure, for example. The endocannabinoid (eCB) system modulates stress response, reward circuits, and other physiological functions, including hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activation and immune response. eCBs, for example, act retrogradely at presynaptic neurons, limiting the release of neurotransmitters, a mechanism implicated in the antidepressant and anxiolytic effects after stress. Epigenetic mechanisms can impact the expression of eCB system molecules, which in turn can regulate epigenetic mechanisms. This review will present evidence of how the eCB system and epigenetic mechanisms interact and the consequences of this interaction in modulating behavioral changes after stress exposure in preclinical studies or psychiatric conditions. Moreover, evidence that correlates the involvement of the eCB system and epigenetic mechanisms in drug abuse contexts will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arthur A. Coelho
- Department of Pharmacology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sávio Lima-Bastos
- Department of Pharmacology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Pedro H. Gobira
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sabrina F. Lisboa
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil
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Ferber SG, Geva R, Weller A. When the Mind Comes to Live Inside the Body: The Ontogeny of the Perceptual Control Clock. Curr Neuropharmacol 2023; 21:13-21. [PMID: 35410607 PMCID: PMC10193756 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x20666220411095508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/09/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In this editorial, we discuss the neurobiological processes underlying the early emergence of awareness that we term the "when" and "how" the mind comes to live inside the body. We describe an accumulative developmental process starting during embryonic life and continuing to fetal and postnatal development, of coupling of heart rate, body movements, and sleep states on the behavioral level with underlying mechanisms on the structural, functional, cellular, and molecular levels. A developmental perspective is proposed based on Perceptual Control Theory (PCT). This includes a developing sequence of modules starting from early sensing of neural intensities to early manifestation of human mindful capacities. We also address pharmacological treatments administered to preterm infants, which may interfere with this development, and highlight the need to consider this potential "side effect" of current pharmaceuticals when developing novel pharmacogenomic treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sari Goldstein Ferber
- Department of Psychology and the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Ronny Geva
- Department of Psychology and the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Aron Weller
- Department of Psychology and the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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Goldstein Ferber S, Weller A, Yadid G, Friedman A. Discovering the Lost Reward: Critical Locations for Endocannabinoid Modulation of the Cortico-Striatal Loop That Are Implicated in Major Depression. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:1867. [PMID: 33668515 PMCID: PMC7918043 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22041867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2021] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Depression, the most prevalent psychiatric disorder in the Western world, is characterized by increased negative affect (i.e., depressed mood, cost value increase) and reduced positive affect (i.e., anhedonia, reward value decrease), fatigue, loss of appetite, and reduced psychomotor activity except for cases of agitative depression. Some forms, such as post-partum depression, have a high risk for suicidal attempts. Recent studies in humans and in animal models relate major depression occurrence and reoccurrence to alterations in dopaminergic activity, in addition to other neurotransmitter systems. Imaging studies detected decreased activity in the brain reward circuits in major depression. Therefore, the location of dopamine receptors in these circuits is relevant for understanding major depression. Interestingly, in cortico-striatal-dopaminergic pathways within the reward and cost circuits, the expression of dopamine and its contribution to reward are modulated by endocannabinoid receptors. These receptors are enriched in the striosomal compartment of striatum that selectively projects to dopaminergic neurons of substantia nigra compacta and is vulnerable to stress. This review aims to show the crosstalk between endocannabinoid and dopamine receptors and their vulnerability to stress in the reward circuits, especially in corticostriatal regions. The implications for novel treatments of major depression are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sari Goldstein Ferber
- Department of Psychology and the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel; (S.G.F.); (A.W.)
| | - Aron Weller
- Department of Psychology and the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel; (S.G.F.); (A.W.)
| | - Gal Yadid
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel;
| | - Alexander Friedman
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
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Dose- and time-related effects of acute diisopropylfluorophosphate intoxication on forced swim behavior and sucrose preference in rats. Neurotoxicology 2020; 82:82-88. [PMID: 33232745 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2020.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Revised: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Acute intoxication by organophosphorus anticholinesterases (OPs) has been associated with depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders. We previously reported that adult male rats treated with diisopropylfluorophosphate (2.5 mg/kg, sc) showed acute cholinergic signs followed by changes (increased immobility/decreased swimming) in the forced swim test (a measure of behavioral despair) for at least one month. This study was conducted to evaluate the further persistence of changes in the forced swim test out to 4 months and to compare responses in a sucrose preference test, a measure of anhedonia. Adult male rats were treated with vehicle (peanut oil, 1 mL/kg, sc) or DFP (2.0, 2.25 or 2.5 mg/kg) followed by sacrifice 4 h later for measurement of OP-sensitive serine hydrolases (cholinesterase [ChE], fatty acid amide hydrolase [FAAH], and monoacylglycerol lipase [MAGL]) in hippocampus. Additional rats were treated similarly and evaluated for functional signs of acute toxicity from 30 min to 6 days, and then motor activity, forced swim behavior and sucrose preference at approximately 1 week, 1 month and 4 months after dosing. All dosages of DFP elicited serine hydrolase inhibition (ChE, 92-96 %; FAAH, 46-63 %; MAGL, 26-33 %). Body weight was reduced in all DFP-treated groups during the first two weeks, and lethality was noted with the higher dosages. Involuntary movements were elicited in all DFP treatment groups during the first week, but both time of onset and rate of recovery were dose-related. There was a significant reduction in ambulation at one week after the highest dosage (2.5 mg/kg), but no other significant locomotor changes were noted. Immobility was increased and swimming was decreased in the forced swim test at all three time-points by 2.25 mg/kg DFP, and at 2 of 3 time-points by the other dosages. While length of water deprivation and time after DFP dosing affected sucrose preference, DFP treatment had no main effect. We conclude that the forced swim test (a measure of behavioral despair/coping mechanism for inescapable stress) is a robust and persistent neurobehavioral consequence of acute DFP intoxication while sucrose preference, a measure of anhedonia and a common symptom of major clinical depression, is not affected.
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