Inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase unmasks CB1 receptor and TRPV1 channel-mediated modulation of glutamatergic synaptic transmission in midbrain periaqueductal grey.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

While arachidonyl ethanolamine (anandamide) produces pharmacological effects mediated by cannabinoid CB1 receptors, it is also an agonist at the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) ion channel. This study examined the cellular actions of anandamide in the midbrain periaqueductal grey (PAG), a region implicated in the analgesic actions of cannabinoids, and which expresses both CB1 receptors and TRPV1.

Experimental approach

In vitro whole cell patch clamp recordings of glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) were made from rat and mouse PAG slices.

Key results

Capsaicin (1 µM) increased the rate, but not the amplitude of miniature EPSCs in subpopulations of neurons throughout the rat and mouse PAG. Capsaicin had no

SUBMITTER: Kawahara H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3144535 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature