Journal
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume 7, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14203-4
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Funding
- Joint MRC/Priory Clinical research training fellowship [G0501775]
- Medical Research Council, UK [MC-A656-5QD30]
- NIHR Clinician Scientist Award [NIHR CS-11-001]
- MRC [MR/J012149/1]
- Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) grant - Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea [HI15C3104]
- Wellcome EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering at King's College London [WT 203148/Z/16/Z]
- Department of Health via the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award
- King's College London
- King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- MRC [G0900891, MR/J012149/1, MR/K022733/1, G1100809, MC_U120085814, G0700995, MC_U120097115, MR/N026063/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Medical Research Council [G0700995, G0900891, MR/J012149/1, MC_U120097115, 1116129, MR/N026063/1, MC_U120085814, MR/K022733/1, G1100809] Funding Source: researchfish
- National Institute for Health Research [NIHR-CS-011-001] Funding Source: researchfish
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Use of Cannabis, the most widely used illicit drug worldwide, is associated with acute anxiety, and anxiety disorders following regular use. The precise neural and receptor basis of these effects have not been tested in man. Employing a combination of functional MRI (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), we investigated whether the effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC), the main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, on anxiety and on amygdala response while processing fearful stimuli were related to local availability of its main central molecular target, cannabinoid-1 (CB1) receptors in man. Fourteen healthy males were studied with fMRI twice, one month apart, following an oral dose of either delta-9-THC (10 mg) or placebo, while they performed a fear-processing task. Baseline availability of the CB1 receptor was studied using PET with [C-11] MePPEP, a CB1 inverse agonist radioligand. Relative to the placebo condition, delta-9-THC induced anxiety and modulated right amygdala activation while processing fear. Both these effects were positively correlated with CB1 receptor availability in the right amygdala. These results suggest that the acute effects of cannabis on anxiety in males are mediated by the modulation of amygdalar function by delta-9-THC and the extent of these effects are related to local availability of CB1 receptors.
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