Alger Bradley E
Department of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore 21201, USA.
Epilepsy Curr. 2004 Sep-Oct;4(5):169-73. doi: 10.1111/j.1535-7597.2004.04501.x.
This review covers the main features of a newly discovered intercellular signaling system in which endogenous ligands of the brain's cannabinoid receptors, or endocannabinoids, serve as retrograde messengers that enable a cell to control the strength of its own synaptic inputs. Endocannabinoids are released by bursts of action potentials, including events resembling interictal spikes, and probably by seizures as well. Activation of cannabinoid receptors has been implicated in neuroprotection against excitotoxicity and can help explain the anticonvulsant properties of cannabinoids that have been known since antiquity.
本综述涵盖了新发现的一种细胞间信号系统的主要特征,在该系统中,大脑大麻素受体的内源性配体,即内源性大麻素,充当逆行信使,使细胞能够控制自身突触输入的强度。内源性大麻素由动作电位爆发释放,包括类似发作间期棘波的事件,可能癫痫发作时也会释放。大麻素受体的激活与对抗兴奋性毒性的神经保护作用有关,这有助于解释自古以来就已知的大麻素的抗惊厥特性。