Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Sep;35(8):1265-9. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.02.008. Epub 2010 Mar 6.
Sex differences have been identified in many of the behavioral and physiological effects of cannabinoids. While estrogen has been linked to some of these variations, the effects of estrogen on cannabinoid receptor binding have not been characterized within regions of the brain specifically implicated in stress responsivity and emotional behavior. To examine sex differences, and the role of estradiol, in regulation of the cannabinoid receptor, we compared the binding site density of the cannabinoid receptor within the amygdala, hippocampus and hypothalamus in males, cycling females, ovariectomized (OVX) females and estradiol-treated OVX females (OVX+E). Our data reveal that males and OVX females have higher amounts of hypothalamic and lower amounts of amygdalar cannabinoid receptor binding relative to both cycling females and OVX+E females. Within the hippocampus, ovariectomy resulted in an upregulation of cannabinoid receptor binding. These data provide a putative biochemical mechanism mediating the observed behavioral and physiological sex differences in the effects of cannabinoids, particularly with respect to stress and emotional behavior.
性别的差异在大麻素的许多行为和生理效应中都有体现。尽管雌激素与其中的一些变化有关,但雌激素对大麻素受体结合的影响在大脑中与应激反应和情绪行为特别相关的区域内尚未得到描述。为了研究性别差异以及雌激素在大麻素受体调节中的作用,我们比较了雄性、周期性雌性、去卵巢(OVX)雌性和雌激素处理的 OVX 雌性(OVX+E)的杏仁核、海马体和下丘脑内大麻素受体的结合位点密度。我们的数据显示,雄性和 OVX 雌性的下丘脑大麻素受体结合量高于周期性雌性和 OVX+E 雌性,而杏仁核的结合量则较低。在海马体中,卵巢切除术导致大麻素受体结合增加。这些数据提供了一种假设的生化机制,介导了大麻素效应中观察到的行为和生理性别差异,特别是在应激和情绪行为方面。