Descriptive Psychopathology of the Acute Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in Humans
Background: Cannabis use can increase the risk of psychosis, and the acute administration of its key psychoactive ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9-THC), can induce transient psychotomimetic symptoms. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover design was used to inv...
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doaj-f4bee542f3e2453aad705a8d580163402020-11-25T00:52:41ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252019-04-01949310.3390/brainsci9040093brainsci9040093Descriptive Psychopathology of the Acute Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in HumansMarco Colizzi0Nathalie Weltens1Philip McGuire2Lukas Van Oudenhove3Sagnik Bhattacharyya4Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London SE5 8AF, UKTranslational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing, University of Leuven, Leuven 3000, BelgiumDepartment of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London SE5 8AF, UKTranslational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing, University of Leuven, Leuven 3000, BelgiumDepartment of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London SE5 8AF, UKBackground: Cannabis use can increase the risk of psychosis, and the acute administration of its key psychoactive ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9-THC), can induce transient psychotomimetic symptoms. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover design was used to investigate the symptomatic effects of acute intravenous administration of ∆9-THC (1.19 mg/2 mL) in 16 healthy participants (seven males) with modest previous cannabis exposure. Results: In the 20 min following acute ∆9-THC administration, symptomatic effects of at least mild severity were present in 94% of the cohort, with moderate to severe symptoms having a much lower prevalence (19%). Nearly one-third (31%) of the volunteers were still experiencing protracted mild symptomatic effects 2.5 h after exposure to ∆9-THC. Compared to the Δ9-THC challenge, most of the study participants did not experience any symptomatic effects following placebo administration (62%). Acute physical reactions were 2.5 times more frequent after Δ9-THC (31%) than placebo (12%). Male and female participants differed in terms of acute Δ9-THC effects, with some negative symptoms occurring more frequently in female (56% to 89%) than male participants (0% to 29%), and acute physical reactions occurring exclusively in the female gender (56%). Conclusions: These results have implications for future research, also in light of cannabis being the most widely used illicit drug.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/9/4/93delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinolplacebocannabis-associated psychosisschizophrenia |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Marco Colizzi Nathalie Weltens Philip McGuire Lukas Van Oudenhove Sagnik Bhattacharyya |
spellingShingle |
Marco Colizzi Nathalie Weltens Philip McGuire Lukas Van Oudenhove Sagnik Bhattacharyya Descriptive Psychopathology of the Acute Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in Humans Brain Sciences delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol placebo cannabis-associated psychosis schizophrenia |
author_facet |
Marco Colizzi Nathalie Weltens Philip McGuire Lukas Van Oudenhove Sagnik Bhattacharyya |
author_sort |
Marco Colizzi |
title |
Descriptive Psychopathology of the Acute Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in Humans |
title_short |
Descriptive Psychopathology of the Acute Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in Humans |
title_full |
Descriptive Psychopathology of the Acute Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in Humans |
title_fullStr |
Descriptive Psychopathology of the Acute Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in Humans |
title_full_unstemmed |
Descriptive Psychopathology of the Acute Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in Humans |
title_sort |
descriptive psychopathology of the acute effects of intravenous delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol administration in humans |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Brain Sciences |
issn |
2076-3425 |
publishDate |
2019-04-01 |
description |
Background: Cannabis use can increase the risk of psychosis, and the acute administration of its key psychoactive ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9-THC), can induce transient psychotomimetic symptoms. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover design was used to investigate the symptomatic effects of acute intravenous administration of ∆9-THC (1.19 mg/2 mL) in 16 healthy participants (seven males) with modest previous cannabis exposure. Results: In the 20 min following acute ∆9-THC administration, symptomatic effects of at least mild severity were present in 94% of the cohort, with moderate to severe symptoms having a much lower prevalence (19%). Nearly one-third (31%) of the volunteers were still experiencing protracted mild symptomatic effects 2.5 h after exposure to ∆9-THC. Compared to the Δ9-THC challenge, most of the study participants did not experience any symptomatic effects following placebo administration (62%). Acute physical reactions were 2.5 times more frequent after Δ9-THC (31%) than placebo (12%). Male and female participants differed in terms of acute Δ9-THC effects, with some negative symptoms occurring more frequently in female (56% to 89%) than male participants (0% to 29%), and acute physical reactions occurring exclusively in the female gender (56%). Conclusions: These results have implications for future research, also in light of cannabis being the most widely used illicit drug. |
topic |
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol placebo cannabis-associated psychosis schizophrenia |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/9/4/93 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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