Brain Mechanisms Supporting Cannabis-induced Pain Relief
University of California, San Diego
Summary
The American Academy of Pain Medicine has labeled pain as a "silent epidemic" due to its staggering costs to society (over $500 billion/year) and widespread prevalence (affects over 100 million Americans). Thus, it is imperative to test and validate cost-effective pain therapies. To this extent, cannabis is characterized as one of the most promising therapies to treat a wide spectrum of pain conditions. However, the clinical applicability of cannabis-based pain therapies has been limited due to lacking mechanistic characterization in human-focused studies. Of critical importance, the neural mechanisms supporting cannabis induced pain relief remain unknown. The primary objective of the proposed pilot study is to identify the brain mechanisms supporting the direct alleviation of acutely evoked pain through vaporized cannabis.
Description
Behavioral (visual analog scale) and neural (cerebral blood flow) effects of a "medium" dose (5.1% THC by weight; NIDA supply; University of Mississippi) of vaporized cannabis in response to a well-validated noxious heat stimulation (49°C) and an emerging fMRI perfusion technique (arterial spin labeling) will be conducted when compared to placebo (\<.1% THC/weight). Cannabis will be self-administered using a portable Volcano vaporizer -a safe and reliable method of intrapulmonary administration of cannabinoids and the Foltin Uniform Puff Procedure (FUPP), an established inhalation protocol com…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 21–65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * are between 21-65 years old * Volunteers with no previous medical history (e.g., cardiac or pulmonary disease); * are not currently using any type of cannabis * have had a previous history with cannabis * currently 30 days cannabis free * are not taking opioids * if female and of a child bearing potential age, are not pregnant or nursing mothers; * do not lack sensory/motor deficits that preclude participation in pain-inducing procedures * do not have a lifetime history of dependence on cannabis * do not have a lifetime history of DSM-IV schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,…
Interventions
- DrugActive Cannabis
400 mg of vaporized and inhaled active cannabis (5.1%)
- DrugPlacebo Cannabis
400 mg of vaporized and inhaled placebo cannabis (\<.1%)
Locations (2)
- Altman Clinical and Translational Research InstituteLa Jolla, California
- University of California, San DiegoSan Diego, California