A Systematic Review of the Complex Effects of Cannabinoids on Cerebral and Peripheral Circulation in Animal Models.

J Sebastian Richter,J Sebastian Richter,J Sebastian Richter,Valérie Wolff,Jean Sébastien Raul,Olivier Rouyer,Bernard Gény,Véronique Quenardelle,Rémy Beaujeux,Rémy Beaujeux

doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.00622

J Sebastian Richter, J Sebastian Richter + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.00622

Copy DOI

Abstract

While cannabis is perceived as a relatively safe drug by the public, accumulating clinical data suggest detrimental cardiovascular effects of cannabinoids. Cannabis has been legalized in several countries and jurisdictions recently. Experimental studies specifically targeting cannabinoids' effects on the cerebral vasculature are rare. There is evidence for transient vasoconstrictive effects of cannabinoids in the peripheral and cerebral vasculature in a complex interplay of vasodilation and vasoconstriction. Vasoreactivity to cannabinoids is dependent on the specific molecules, their metabolites and dose, baseline vascular tone, and vessel characteristics as well as experimental conditions and animal species. We systematically review the currently available literature of experimental results in in vivo and in vitro animal studies, examining cannabinoids' effects on circulation and reactive vasodilation or vasoconstriction, with a particular focus on the cerebral vascular bed.

Highlights

Of the estimated 203 million cannabis users worldwide and 14.6 million young European consumers, more than 13 million are dependent on cannabis (Degenhardt and Hall, 2012)
To identify relevant articles on original research, we associated terms referring to the use of cannabis or cannabis-related psychoactive substances, animal models, and vascular reactivity or stroke according to a predefined search algorithm
An increase of cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured by laser-Doppler velocimetry of cerebrocortical blood flow (CoBF) and some evidence suggested an impact of the CB1 receptor on cerebral circulation autoregulation (Iring et al, 2013)

Summary

Introduction

Of the estimated 203 million cannabis users worldwide and 14.6 million young European consumers (age 15–34), more than 13 million are dependent on cannabis (Degenhardt and Hall, 2012). These numbers have been increasing during the first decade of the current century, making cannabis by far the most commonly used illicit drug of our time (WHO, 2016). Adverse effects of cannabinoid consumption has not been appreciated sufficiently (Volkow et al, 2014; Rose, 2016). A recent review of the cardiovascular risk of using cannabis has highlighted the controversy between its therapeutic and its adverse effects (Goyal et al, 2017)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion