Analgesic properties of the tetrahydrocannabinols, their metabolites, and analogs.
The tetrahydrocannabinols from marihuana were found to have moderate analgesic activity in mice by the hot-plate test (sc administration).  Of the several metabolites of these two compounds tested, only the 11-hydroxy derivatives were more potent than the parent compounds.  Analogs 1 and 2 (9-demethyl relatives which cannot be metabolized to 11-hydroxy compounds), both of which produce a pharmacological profile generally similar to that of delta8- and delta9-THC, were analgesically inert.  This suggests that metabolism to 11-hydroxy congeners may be necessary for the mediation of analgesic activity in the mouse hot-plate test but not for other pharmacologic effects produced by these substances which we have examined.
D000700:Analgesics / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D000818:Animals; D002188:Cannabis; D013759:Dronabinol / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D004597:Electroshock; D006358:Hot Temperature; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D051379:Mice; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects
D000700:Analgesics; D013759:Dronabinol