• Ildikó Rácz, Elisa Nent, Edda Erxlebe, and Andreas Zimmer.
• Institute of Molecular Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: iracz@uni-bonn.de.
• Brain Res. Bull. 2015 May 1; 114: 42-8.

AbstractPatients suffering from chronic pain are often diagnosed with a psychiatric condition, in particular generalized anxiety and major depression. The underlying pathomechanisms contributing to this comorbidity, however, are not entirely clear. In this manuscript we have focussed on the potential role of the cannabinoid receptor CB1, because it is known to modulate neuronal circuits contributing to chronic pain states and affective behaviours. For this purpose we analysed the consequences of a partial sciatic nerve ligation on anxiety- and depression-related behaviours in mice lacking CB1 receptors. Our results show that the development of mechanical hypersensitivity was similar in CB1 deficient mice and wild type controls. However, CB1 knockouts showed much more pronounced behavioural manifestations of anxiety-related behaviours in the light-dark and zero-maze tests, sucrose anhedonia, and disturbed home-cage activity. These results indicate that the endocannabinoid system affects chronic pain-induced mood changes through CB1 receptors.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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