Cannabinoid 1 receptor availability in posttraumatic stress disorder: A positron emission tomography study.

IF 6.2 1区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

Translational Psychiatry Pub Date : 2025-08-22 DOI:10.1038/s41398-025-03519-9

Nachshon Korem, Anahita Bassir Nia, Ansel T Hillmer, Deepak D'Souza, Nabeel Nabulsi, Jim Ropchan, Yiyun Huang, Kelly Cosgrove, Ifat Levy, Robert H Pietrzak, Ilan Harpaz-Rotem

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays a critical role in fear learning and maintenance and may, therefore, be implicated in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The exact role of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R), a key component of the ECS, remains unclear. Although preclinical studies largely suggest CB1R downregulation in PTSD, the only prior study of CB1R availability in individuals with PTSD reported higher levels than in controls. In this study, we investigated the relationship between CB1R availability and PTSD diagnosis and symptoms. Using positron emission tomography (PET) with the CB1R-specific radiotracer [¹¹C]OMAR, scans from 62 individuals, including 46 trauma-exposed participants (19 with current PTSD) and 16 healthy controls, were analyzed. Our findings revealed no differences in CB1R availability between groups in either the whole brain or regions of interest. However, emotional numbing symptoms of PTSD were significantly linked to CB1R availability. These results suggest that the ECS role in the maintenance of PTSD is more nuanced than previously suggested. The ECS was linked to specific PTSD symptom expression, highlighting the potential for treatments targeting the ECS in mitigating these specific symptoms of this multi-faceted disorder.

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大麻素1受体在创伤后应激障碍中的有效性：一项正电子发射断层扫描研究。

内源性大麻素系统（ECS）在恐惧学习和维持中起着至关重要的作用，因此可能与创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的病理生理学有关。大麻素受体1 （CB1R）是ECS的关键成分，其确切作用尚不清楚。尽管临床前研究在很大程度上表明CB1R在PTSD中下调，但此前唯一一项关于PTSD患者CB1R可用性的研究报告显示CB1R水平高于对照组。在这项研究中，我们调查了CB1R可用性与PTSD诊断和症状的关系。使用cb1r特异性放射性示踪剂[11C]OMAR的正电子发射断层扫描（PET），对62名个体的扫描结果进行了分析，其中包括46名创伤暴露参与者（19名患有当前PTSD）和16名健康对照。我们的研究结果显示，在整个大脑或感兴趣的区域，两组之间的CB1R可用性没有差异。然而，创伤后应激障碍的情绪麻木症状与CB1R的可用性显著相关。这些结果表明，ECS在PTSD维持中的作用比之前认为的要微妙得多。ECS与特定的PTSD症状表达有关，强调了针对ECS的治疗在减轻这种多方面疾病的这些特定症状方面的潜力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Translational Psychiatry PSYCHIATRY-

CiteScore

11.50

自引率

2.90%

发文量

484

审稿时长

23 weeks

期刊介绍： Psychiatry has suffered tremendously by the limited translational pipeline. Nobel laureate Julius Axelrod''s discovery in 1961 of monoamine reuptake by pre-synaptic neurons still forms the basis of contemporary antidepressant treatment. There is a grievous gap between the explosion of knowledge in neuroscience and conceptually novel treatments for our patients. Translational Psychiatry bridges this gap by fostering and highlighting the pathway from discovery to clinical applications, healthcare and global health. We view translation broadly as the full spectrum of work that marks the pathway from discovery to global health, inclusive. The steps of translation that are within the scope of Translational Psychiatry include (i) fundamental discovery, (ii) bench to bedside, (iii) bedside to clinical applications (clinical trials), (iv) translation to policy and health care guidelines, (v) assessment of health policy and usage, and (vi) global health. All areas of medical research, including — but not restricted to — molecular biology, genetics, pharmacology, imaging and epidemiology are welcome as they contribute to enhance the field of translational psychiatry.