Cannabidiol tempers alcohol intake and neuroendocrine and behavioural correlates in alcohol binge drinking adolescent rats. Focus on calcitonin gene‐related peptide's brain levels
Phytotherapy Research July 31, 2023 Giuseppe Tringali, Gianluca Lavanco, Valentina Castelli et al. 17 citations
Adolescent rats that binge drink alcohol show reduced levels of the neuropeptide CGRP in brain regions involved in emotion and reward (medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, amygdala) and increased CGRP in the brainstem. These rats also display heightened responses to rewarding and painful stimuli, reduced social drive, and lower corticosterone levels. Treatment with cannabidiol (40 mg/kg) before each drinking session reduced alcohol consumption and preference, normalized CGRP expression in corticolimbic areas, and corrected the abnormal reward and aversion responses as well as glucocorticoid levels. CGRP may mediate and be a target of alcohol binge drinking, and cannabidiol shows promise for limiting adolescent binge drinking and its behavioral and neuroendocrine consequences.