Current Pharmaceutical Design
September 12, 2012
Rocío Martín‐Santos, José Alexandre S. Crippa, Albert Batalla et al.
288 citations
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), but not cannabidiol (CBD), produces marked acute behavioral and physiological effects. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 16 healthy male volunteers, oral THC (10 mg) caused anxiety, dysphoria, positive psychotic symptoms, physical and mental sedation, subjective intoxication, and increased heart rate relative to placebo and CBD. CBD (600 mg) showed no differences from placebo on any symptomatic or physiological measure, indicating it is safe and well tolerated. The two main cannabis constituents thus have quite different acute effects.
Current Pharmaceutical Design
May 10, 2014
Johannes Wrege, André Schmidt, Anna Walter et al.
96 citations
A systematic review of 17 studies (13 meeting inclusion criteria) examined cannabis's effects on impulsivity, disinhibition, and motor control, with a focus on neuroimaging findings from acute and chronic use up to May 2012. Functional imaging studies indicate that chronic cannabis users have lower prefrontal blood flow than controls, while acute administration of THC or marijuana increases brain metabolism in several regions during impulsivity tasks. Structural imaging studies found reduced prefrontal volumes and white matter integrity in cannabis users, which may mediate abnormal impulsivity and mood. The review concludes that more longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether impulsivity precedes cannabis use or cannabis aggravates impulsivity and discontinuation.
Current Pharmaceutical Design
October 19, 2018
Jeffrey M. Witkin, Daniel E. Knutson, Gabriel J. Rodriguez et al.
44 citations
Conventional antidepressants for major depression, which work by increasing monoamine neurotransmitters, can take weeks to produce a full response, a major limitation. This review describes compounds that provide immediate symptom relief, including ketamine, scopolamine, and newer agents like mGlu2/3 receptor antagonists, negative allosteric modulators of α5-containing GABAA receptors, and psychedelics. These rapid-acting drugs show large effect sizes and efficacy in treatment-resistant patients, though some have challenges with duration of effect and side effects. The proposed mechanism involves amplifying excitatory neurotransmission via AMPA receptors, triggered by increased glutamate efflux. Two compounds, GLYX-13 (Rapastinel) and esketamine, are in late-stage clinical development.
Current Pharmaceutical Design
January 30, 2018
Camille Richeval, Delphine Allorge, Xavier Vanhoye et al.
6 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a potent hallucinogen active at very low doses, making its detection and quantification difficult in body fluids and especially in hair. This review examines the challenges of LSD hair analysis, noting that only ten published cases provide data on LSD concentrations in hair. Interpretation of results is complicated by possible pubic hair contamination from urine and limited understanding of how LSD incorporates into and remains stable in head and pubic hair. The absence of LSD in head hair does not rule out consumption, and positive results cannot reliably distinguish single from repeated use. Even a positive pubic hair result does not formally prove repeated LSD use.