New research published in Molecular Psychiatry explores the anxiolytic effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on cue-induced anxiety, offering insights into its potential as a therapeutic treatment for anxiety disorders.
The study, conducted by researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Indiana University, and the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai, examined how CBD influences behavior and molecular changes in the brain.
The researchers used a fear conditioning model in male rats, exposing them to a shock-paired odor to trigger cue-induced anxiety. CBD (10 mg/kg) was administered one hour before anxiety assessments. The results showed that CBD significantly reduced avoidance behavior, but only in rats exposed repeatedly to the anxiety-inducing cue.
RNA sequencing and lipid profiling of the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh), a brain region associated with cue-mediated behaviors, revealed that the shock-paired cue in control animals activated pathways linked to cytoskeletal dynamics and mitochondrial dysfunction. Elevated linoleic acid levels were also observed in these animals, correlating with anxiety-like behavior. CBD reversed or normalized these molecular changes, including lipid networks and transcripts involved in synaptic plasticity and epigenetic regulation.
The findings suggest that CBD specifically alleviates conditioned anxiety and restores associated molecular imbalances in the NAcSh, offering potential therapeutic avenues for treating anxiety disorders.
