Pharmaceuticals 2010, 3(10), 3101-3126; doi:10.3390/ph3103101
Review

Endocannabinoids and Schizophrenia

Joëlle Desfossésemail, Emmanuel Stipemail, Lahcen Ait Bentalebemail and Stéphane Potvin* email
Centre de Recherche Fernand-Seguin, Department of Psychiatry, University of Montreal, 7331 Hochelaga, Montreal, Quebec, H1N 3V2, Canada
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 10 September 2010 / Accepted: 25 September 2010 / Published: 8 October 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cannabinoids)
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [183 KB, uploaded 8 October 2010 08:57 CEST]
Abstract: The endocannabinoids anandamide and 2-arachydonoylglycerol (2-AG) are lipids naturally derived from membrane precursors which bind cannabinoid receptors (CB1, CB2). This endocannabinoid system is disturbed in schizophrenia. Indeed, there seems to be an association between schizophrenia and polymorphisms of the CB1 receptor gene. Moreover, CB1 receptors are found in higher density in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and basal ganglia of patients with schizophrenia. Similarly, anandamide levels are increased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and in the serum of schizophrenia patients, including during the prodromal state, suggesting that they may play a protective role in psychosis homeostasis. Future studies are needed to further explore the role of the endocannabinoid system in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
Keywords: endocannabinoids; schizophrenia; cannabis; drug abuse; metabolism

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Desfossés, J.; Stip, E.; Bentaleb, L.A.; Potvin, S. Endocannabinoids and Schizophrenia. Pharmaceuticals 2010, 3, 3101-3126.

AMA Style

Desfossés J, Stip E, Bentaleb LA, Potvin S. Endocannabinoids and Schizophrenia. Pharmaceuticals. 2010; 3(10):3101-3126.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Desfossés, Joëlle; Stip, Emmanuel; Bentaleb, Lahcen Ait; Potvin, Stéphane. 2010. "Endocannabinoids and Schizophrenia." Pharmaceuticals 3, no. 10: 3101-3126.

Pharmaceuticals EISSN 1424-8247 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert