Endogenous cannabinoids in post-mortem brains of Cloninger type 1 and 2 alcoholics

Received 6 October 2009; received in revised form 21 December 2009; accepted 24 December 2009. published online 01 February 2010.

Abstract

The endogenous cannabinoid (EC) system has been recently implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders. This study analyzed post-mortem brain regions of Cloninger type 1 (n=9) and 2 (n=8) alcoholics and non-alcoholic controls (n=10) for ECs by quantitative liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometric detection. A significant difference was found in anandamide (AEA) levels in nucleus accumbens (NAcc) between the three groups (p=0.047). AEA levels were significantly lower when compared to controls in both perigenual anterior cingulate (p=0.017) and frontal cortices (p=0.018) of type 1 alcoholics. Similar trends were observed for dihomo-γ-linolenoyl ethanolamide and docosahexaenoyl ethanolamide, but not for 2-arachidonoylglycerol, palmitoyl ethanolamide, or oleoyl ethanolamide. Although preliminary, and from diagnostic groups with a relatively small number of subjects and substantially different mean ages for each group, these results suggest that the EC system may be hyperactive in type 2 alcoholics and hypoactive in type 1 alcoholics.

Keywords: Endocannabinoids, Anandamide, AEA, 2-Arachidonoylglycerol, 2-AG, Cloninger type 1 and 2, Alcoholism, Post-mortem brain

a Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Kuopio, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland

b Biocenter Kuopio, University of Kuopio, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland

c Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Kuopio, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland

d Department of Biosciences, University of Kuopio, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211, Kuopio, Finland

e Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Niuvanniemi Hospital, University of Kuopio, FI-70240 Kuopio, Finland

f National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction, P.O. Box 30, FI-00271, Helsinki, Finland

g Department of Neurobiology, A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland

Corresponding author. Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Niuvanniemi Hospital, FI-70240 Kuopio, Finland. Tel.: +358 17203202; fax: +358 17203494.

1 Deceased.

PII: S0924-977X(10)00004-0

doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2009.12.008

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