The article entitled “Synergistic action of CB1 and 5-HT2B receptors in preventing pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus” has recently been published in the prestigious “Neurobiology of Disease” journal by Elsevier.
View the article here
View the article here
This study sheds new light on the effectiveness of cannabis in epilepsy. The project, led by Prof. Giuseppe Di Giovanni, involved Dr. Roberto Colangeli, Dr. Grabriele Deidda and Dr. Massimo Pierucci from the laboratory of Neurophysiology at the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry at the University of Malta, and other scientists from the Universities of Pittsburgh, USA and Palermo, Italy.
They studied the behavioural and electrophysiological effects of a synthetic cannabinoid agonist WIN55,212-2 (similar to marijuana’s THC), in a model of status epilepticus, a life-threatening emergency characterized by a prolonged continuous state of convulsions. The group from Malta discovered that co-targeting cannabinoid and serotononin2B receptors, rather than single treatments, prevented motor and brain electrical seizures, while cannabinoids blocked only motor seizures. Prof. Di Giovanni and his group have already shown that activation of the cannabinoid receptors blocks seizures in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, although thiscan cause some serious side effects such as memory impairments. The authors are now working towards the use of cannabis extracts that contain both THC and cannabidiol (CBD) in different proportions, as a new antiepileptic drug treatment that might have fewer side effects compared to synthetic compounds. They are also investigating the role of cannabinoids in other types of epilepsy such as Childhood Absence Epilepsy.