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1 results

  • Chapter 19 - The Endocannabinoid System in Schizophrenia

  • from Part VI - Cannabinoids and Schizophrenia: Aetiopathology and Treatment Implications
  • Edited by Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Staff Psychiatrist, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, David Castle, University of Tasmania, Australia, Sir Robin Murray, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychosis Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry
  • Book:
    Marijuana and Madness
    Published online:
    12 May 2023
    Print publication:
    01 June 2023, pp 189-199

  • Summary

    An excess or deficit of specific neurotransmitters or receptors has been the dominant theme for explaining the pathology of major mental illness for many decades. The best known example is that hyperdopaminergia is the cause of psychosis. Similar proposals have been made for glutamate and the endocannabinoids, based on the ability of drugs acting on these systems to elicit psychotic mental states. In addition, cannabis is also a risk factor for the development of schizophrenia. On this background, researchers have measured several endocannabinoid components in people with psychotic illness compared to controls. These components include synthesizing and degrading enzymes for anandamide and 2-arochodonylglycerol, the amount of endocannabinoid transmitter in the bloodstream or CSF and the availability of cannabinoid receptors. There is inconsistency in the field as a whole, but a number of intriguing findings have emerged, particularly reports of increased anandamide level in psychosis. In this chapter, the major studies are reviewed and collated.