Cannabidiol increases Fos expression in the nucleus accumbens but not in the dorsal striatum.
Preclinical and clinical studies suggest that cannabidiol (CBD), a major component of Cannabis sativa, could produce antipsychotic effects without causing extra-pyramidal side-effects. In the present paper we employed the detection of Fos protein to investigate neuronal activation in the dorsal striatum and nucleus accumbens of male Wistar rats after systemic administration of CBD (120 mg/kg), haloperidol (1 mg/kg) or clozapine (20 mg/kg). Only haloperidol was able to increase the number of Fos immunoreactive neurons (FIr) in the dorsal striatum (vehicle: 0.07 +/- 0.07/0.1 mm(2), haloperidol: 28.3 +/- 8.9/0.1 mm(2), p < 0.01). In contrast, both haloperidol and CBD significantly increased FIr in the nucleus accumbens (Vehicle: 0 +/- 0/0.1 mm(2), haloperidol: 7.2 +/- 2.7/0.1 mm(2), CBD: 4.0 +/- 1.9/0.1 mm(2), p < 0.05). Clozapine also produced a barely significant increase in FIr (3.0 +/- 1.7/0.1 mm(2), p = 0.062). These results show that CBD is able to induce FIr in a limbic- but not in a motor-related area.
Guimarães
Viviane M C
VM
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Campus USP, Av. Bandeirantes 3900, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14049-900, Brazil.
Zuardi
Antonio W
AW
Del Bel
Elaine Aparecida
EA
Guimarães
Francisco S
FS
D000818:Animals; D002185:Cannabidiol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003024:Clozapine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D006220:Haloperidol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008297:Male; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D002185:Cannabidiol; D003024:Clozapine; D006220:Haloperidol