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Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences Aug 2018Cannabidiol (CBD) represents a new promising drug due to a wide spectrum of pharmacological actions. In order to relate CBD clinical efficacy to its pharmacological... (Review)
Review
Cannabidiol (CBD) represents a new promising drug due to a wide spectrum of pharmacological actions. In order to relate CBD clinical efficacy to its pharmacological mechanisms of action, we performed a bibliographic search on PUBMED about all clinical studies investigating the use of CBD as a treatment of psychiatric symptoms. Findings to date suggest that (a) CBD may exert antipsychotic effects in schizophrenia mainly through facilitation of endocannabinoid signalling and cannabinoid receptor type 1 antagonism; (b) CBD administration may exhibit acute anxiolytic effects in patients with generalised social anxiety disorder through modification of cerebral blood flow in specific brain sites and serotonin 1A receptor agonism; (c) CBD may reduce withdrawal symptoms and cannabis/tobacco dependence through modulation of endocannabinoid, serotoninergic and glutamatergic systems; (d) the preclinical pro-cognitive effects of CBD still lack significant results in psychiatric disorders. In conclusion, current evidences suggest that CBD has the ability to reduce psychotic, anxiety and withdrawal symptoms by means of several hypothesised pharmacological properties. However, further studies should include larger randomised controlled samples and investigate the impact of CBD on biological measures in order to correlate CBD's clinical effects to potential modifications of neurotransmitters signalling and structural and functional cerebral changes.
Topics: Anti-Anxiety Agents; Antipsychotic Agents; Anxiety Disorders; Brain; Cannabidiol; Clinical Trials as Topic; Humans; Psychopharmacology; Schizophrenia
PubMed: 29789034
DOI: 10.1017/S2045796018000239 -
American Journal of Respiratory Cell... Oct 2022
Topics: Animals; Anti-Anxiety Agents; Asthma; Bronchodilator Agents; Calcium; GABA-A Receptor Agonists; Mice; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
PubMed: 35901197
DOI: 10.1165/rcmb.2022-0287ED -
The British Journal of General Practice... Apr 2016
Topics: Anti-Anxiety Agents; Benzodiazepines
PubMed: 27033484
DOI: 10.3399/bjgp16X684517 -
British Journal of Pharmacology Oct 2011Anxiety disorders have a high prevalence, and despite the substantial advances in the psychological treatment of anxiety, relapse is still a common problem. One approach... (Review)
Review
Anxiety disorders have a high prevalence, and despite the substantial advances in the psychological treatment of anxiety, relapse is still a common problem. One approach to improving existing psychological treatments for anxiety has been to develop pharmacological agents that can be used to enhance the processes underlying exposure therapy, which is the most commonly used and empirically validated psychological treatment for anxiety during which individuals are taught to appropriately inhibit fear. Animal models of exposure therapy, particularly fear extinction, have proved to be a very useful way of examining the neural and molecular correlates of fear inhibition, which has in turn led to the identification of numerous drugs that enhance these processes in rats. Several of these drugs have subsequently been tested as novel pharmacological adjuncts to exposure therapy in humans with a range of anxiety disorders. The purpose of this review is to outline the key animal models of exposure therapy and to describe how these have been used to develop potential pharmacological adjuncts for anxiety disorders. Drugs that are currently in clinical use, as well as those currently in the preclinical stages of investigation, are described.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Anxiety Agents; Anxiety Disorders; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Extinction, Psychological; Fear; Female; Humans; Male; Rats
PubMed: 21175588
DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.2010.01175.x -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Apr 2019Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the cannabinoids with non-psychotropic action, extracted from . CBD is a terpenophenol and it has received a great scientific interest thanks... (Review)
Review
Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the cannabinoids with non-psychotropic action, extracted from . CBD is a terpenophenol and it has received a great scientific interest thanks to its medical applications. This compound showed efficacy as anti-seizure, antipsychotic, neuroprotective, antidepressant and anxiolytic. The neuroprotective activity appears linked to its excellent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the use of CBD, in addition to common anti-epileptic drugs, in the severe treatment-resistant epilepsy through an overview of recent literature and clinical trials aimed to study the effects of the CBD treatment in different forms of epilepsy. The results of scientific studies obtained so far the use of CBD in clinical applications could represent hope for patients who are resistant to all conventional anti-epileptic drugs.
Topics: Anti-Anxiety Agents; Anticonvulsants; Antipsychotic Agents; Cannabidiol; Cannabis; Clinical Trials as Topic; Epilepsy; Humans; Seizures
PubMed: 31013866
DOI: 10.3390/molecules24081459 -
International Journal of Nanomedicine 2022At present, people are susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders in response to stress. However, there is no specific medicine for anxiety. Os Draconis...
BACKGROUND
At present, people are susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders in response to stress. However, there is no specific medicine for anxiety. Os Draconis (OD, named "Long gu" in Chinese) are fossilized bones that have been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat neurological diseases for thousands of years. Thus, we conducted this study to determine the biological basis for the anxiolytic effect of OD.
METHODS
In this study, novel carbon dots (OD-CDs) from OD decoctions were discovered and separated. OD-CDs were anatomized using nanomaterials characterization methods to characterize the morphological structure, optical properties, and functional group properties. Four behavioural tests were conducted to observe the behavioural activities of mice, including the open field test (OFT), light/dark box test (LDT), elevated plus maze test (EPMT), and novelty-suppressed feeding test (NSFT), to determine its anxiolytic effects. Moreover, we assessed the possible mechanisms of the OD-CDs by detecting hormones associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.
RESULTS
OD-CDs were spherical and monodispersed with a narrow size distribution between 1 and 5 nm and had a yield of 3.67%. OD-CDs increased the activity time of mice in the central zone in the OFT. The mice in the experimental group showed more frequent activity in the light compartment and the open arms, in LDT and EPMT, respectively. In addition, OD-CDs shortened the feeding latency in the NSFT. Furthermore, the results after OD-CDs intervention showed a significant increase in serum serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE). In addition, the concentrations of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ATCH), and corticosterone (CORT) were decreased.
CONCLUSION
These results demonstrate a definite anxiolytic effect of OD-CDs and reveal the possible mechanism of action of OD-CDs' anxiolytic effect, which supports the research of OD for neurological disorders and a promising new trend of therapeutic approach and drug development.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Anti-Anxiety Agents; Corticosterone; Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; Serotonin; Carbon; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; Norepinephrine
PubMed: 36275482
DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S382112 -
The International Journal of... Jun 2005Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a common and often disabling disorder. This paper reviews the pharmacological treatment of GAD, based on the findings of published... (Review)
Review
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a common and often disabling disorder. This paper reviews the pharmacological treatment of GAD, based on the findings of published meta-analyses and randomized placebo-controlled studies. In doing so, it aims to address three fundamental questions: What is the first-line treatment for GAD? How long should treatment continue? What is the best intervention in patients who do not respond to first-line and second-line treatments? Due to their efficacy in GAD and comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders, their tolerability and safety, certain selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (escitalopram, paroxetine, sertraline) should be considered the first-line treatment for most patients, although the serotonin-noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitor venlafaxine is a reasonable alternative. Little is known about the optimal length of therapy after response to acute treatment but relapse-prevention studies with paroxetine suggest that continuation treatment should last for at least 6 months. The management of patients who do not respond to first-line treatment is uncertain, but some patients may benefit from certain tricyclic antidepressants, buspirone, or pregabalin.
Topics: Anti-Anxiety Agents; Anxiety Disorders; Evidence-Based Medicine; Humans
PubMed: 15576000
DOI: 10.1017/S1461145704004870 -
British Journal of Pharmacology Oct 2011Anxiety disorders are common, serious and a growing health problem worldwide. However, the causative factors, aetiology and underlying mechanisms of anxiety disorders,... (Review)
Review
Anxiety disorders are common, serious and a growing health problem worldwide. However, the causative factors, aetiology and underlying mechanisms of anxiety disorders, as for most psychiatric disorders, remain relatively poorly understood. Animal models are an important aid in giving insight into the aetiology, neurobiology and, ultimately, the therapy of human anxiety disorders. The approach, however, is challenged with a number of complexities. In particular, the heterogeneous nature of anxiety disorders in humans coupled with the associated multifaceted and descriptive diagnostic criteria, creates challenges in both animal modelling and in clinical research. In this paper, we describe some of the more widely used approaches for assessing the anxiolytic activity of known and potential therapeutic agents. These include ethological, conflict-based, hyponeophagia, vocalization-based, physiological and cognitive-based paradigms. Developments in the characterization of translational models are also summarized, as are the challenges facing researchers in their drug discovery efforts in developing new anxiolytic drugs, not least the ever-shifting clinical conceptualization of anxiety disorders. In conclusion, to date, although animal models of anxiety have relatively good validity, anxiolytic drugs with novel mechanisms have been slow to emerge. It is clear that a better alignment of the interactions between basic and clinical scientists is needed if this is to change.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Anxiety Agents; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Discovery; Female; Haplorhini; Humans; Male; Mice; Rats; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 21545412
DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.2011.01362.x -
Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria (Sao... Mar 2016To conduct a systematic literature review of animal and human studies reporting anxiolytic or antidepressive effects of ayahuasca or some of its isolated alkaloids... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
To conduct a systematic literature review of animal and human studies reporting anxiolytic or antidepressive effects of ayahuasca or some of its isolated alkaloids (dimethyltryptamine, harmine, tetrahydroharmine, and harmaline).
METHODS
Papers published until 3 April 2015 were retrieved from the PubMed, LILACS and SciELO databases following a comprehensive search strategy and using a predetermined set of criteria for article selection.
RESULTS
Five hundred and fourteen studies were identified, of which 21 met the established criteria. Studies in animals have shown anxiolytic and antidepressive effects of ayahuasca, harmine, and harmaline, and experimental studies in humans and mental health assessments of experienced ayahuasca consumers also suggest that ayahuasca is associated with reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms. A pilot study reported rapid antidepressive effects of a single ayahuasca dose in six patients with recurrent depression.
CONCLUSION
Considering the need for new drugs that produce fewer adverse effects and are more effective in reducing anxiety and depression symptomatology, the described effects of ayahuasca and its alkaloids should be further investigated.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Anxiety Agents; Antidepressive Agents; Anxiety; Banisteriopsis; Depressive Disorder; Harmaline; Harmine; Humans; Mice; N,N-Dimethyltryptamine; Rats
PubMed: 27111702
DOI: 10.1590/1516-4446-2015-1701 -
Trends in Pharmacological Sciences Nov 2012The discovery of benzodiazepine receptors provided the impetus to discover and develop anxioselective anxiolytics ('Valium without the side effects'). The market... (Review)
Review
The discovery of benzodiazepine receptors provided the impetus to discover and develop anxioselective anxiolytics ('Valium without the side effects'). The market potential for an anxioselective based on the γ-aminobutyric acid A (GABA(A)) receptor resulted in clinical trials of multiple compounds. In contrast to the anxioselective profile displayed in preclinical models, compounds such as bretazenil, TPA023, and MRK 409 produced benzodiazepine-like side effects (sedation, dizziness) in Phase I studies, whereas alpidem and ocinaplon exhibited many of the characteristics of an anxioselective in the clinic. Alpidem was briefly marketed for the treatment of anxiety, but was withdrawn because of liver toxicity. Reversible elevations in liver enzymes halted development of ocinaplon in Phase III. The clinical profiles of these two molecules demonstrate that it is possible to develop GABA(A) receptor-based anxioselectives. However, despite the formidable molecular toolbox at our disposal, we are no better informed about the GABA(A) receptors responsible for an anxioselective profile in the clinic. Here, I discuss the evolution of a quest, spanning four decades, for molecules that retain the rapid and robust anti-anxiety actions of benzodiazepines without the side effects that limit their usefulness.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Anxiety Agents; Anxiety Disorders; GABA-A Receptor Agonists; Humans; Receptors, GABA-A
PubMed: 22981367
DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2012.08.003