ACUTE AND CHRONIC EFFECTS OF TETRAHYDROCANNABINOLS ON MONOAMINE-OXIDASE ACTIVITY - POSSIBLE VEHICLE TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL INTERACTIONS

  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 17  (3) , 471-480
Abstract
The acute and chronic effects of .DELTA.9 and .DELTA.8-tetrahydrocannabinol(THC) were studied on the monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity of rat brain, lung, kidney, liver and heart. The experimental design included 2 vehicles for the cannabinols (1% Tween 80 in saline and ethanol) and a further control group, given saline only. Neither .DELTA.9 nor .DELTA.8-THC (1 and 14 mg/kg, i.p.) altered MAO activity after 1 day and no changes from the saline control were found in the vehicle-treated groups. Drug (.DELTA.8 and .DELTA.9-THC 1 mg/kg, i.p.) and vehicle-induced changes were observed after 14 days (Tween 80) and 28 days (ethanol) of continuous daily treatment. A possible time-dependent, vehicle/drug interaction at the level of outer mitochondrial membranes was suggested. No compelling evidence was obtained for any inherent pharmacological effect of the cannabinols upon MAO activity.