Abstract
BackgroundThe endocannabinoid system is involved in the regulation of stress and anxiety. In a recent study, it was reported that short-term changes in mood produced by a pleasant ambience were correlated with changes in the levels of plasma endocannabinoids and related N-acylethanolamines (Schrieks et al. PLoS One 10: e0126421, 2015). In the present study, we investigated whether stress reduction by touch massage (TM) affects blood plasma levels of endocannabinoids and related N-acylethanolamines.ResultsA randomized two-session crossover design for 20 healthy participants was utilised, with one condition that consisted of TM and a rest condition as control. TM increased the perceived pleasantness rating of the participants, and both TM and rest reduced the basal anxiety level as assessed by the State scale of the STAI-Y inventory. However, there were no significant effects of either time (pre- vs. post-treatment measures) as main effect or the interaction time x treatment for the plasma levels of the endocannabinoids anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol or for eight other related lipids. Four lipids showed acceptable relative reliabilities, and for two of these (linoleoyl ethanolamide and palmitoleoyl ethanolamide) a significant correlation was seen between the TM-related change in levels, calculated as (post-TM value minus pre-TM value) − (post-rest value minus pre-rest value), and the corresponding TM-related change in perceived pleasantness.ConclusionsIt is concluded that in the participants studied here, there are no overt effects of TM upon plasma endocannabinoid levels. Possible associations of related N-acylethanolamines with the perceived pleasantness should be investigated further.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1450-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
The endocannabinoid system is involved in the regulation of stress and anxiety
NAEs are catabolised by hydrolysis to the corresponding long-chain fatty acids, but acid derivatives anandamide (AEA) can be metabolised to other compounds including N-arachidonoylglycine (NA-Gly) [10], which has biological properties of its own [11]
The individuals were randomly divided into two groups, one group (N = 10) experiencing a rest phase (60 min) between blood sampling on the first occasion and 60 min of touch massage (TM) between blood sampling on the second occasion
Summary
The endocannabinoid system is involved in the regulation of stress and anxiety. In a recent study, it was reported that short-term changes in mood produced by a pleasant ambience were correlated with changes in the levels of plasma endocannabinoids and related N-acylethanolamines (Schrieks et al PLoS One 10: e0126421, 2015). One hypothesised function for the eCB system is to buffer or dampen the endocrine and behavioural effects of acute stress and negative stimuli [13, 14] and in humans increased levels of eCB have been detected in serum after exposure to acute stress [15]. Both decreases [16] and increases [17] in plasma eCB levels have been reported for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. After a short time on the market, the drug was withdrawn due an unfavourable risk of developing depressive disorders, mood alterations with depressive symptoms, and anxiety [18]
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