Potencial del Cannabidiol para la terapia antidepresiva rápida: evidencias conductuales, neuroquímicas, moleculares y celulares : Implicación de los sistemas serotonérgico y glutamatérgico = Cannabidiol potential for fast-antidepressant therapy: behavioural, neurochemical, molecular and cellular evidences. Imp

Abstract

Depression is the most prevalent psychiatric disorders of the developed world and however, current pharmacological treatments present a limited efficacy and a marked delay in the onset of action. As the plant of Cannabis sativa has been used for therapeutic purposes from ancient times to improve mood, in this doctoral thesis we have investigated the potential of cannabidiol for antidepressant therapy in an animal model of depression, as well as the neuropharmacological mechanism of action underlying. The findings of this work show that cannabidiol administration exerts antidepressant effects in a fast manner in the bulbectomy model of depression, through a 5-HT1A receptor-dependent mechanism of action. Cannabidiol actions entail serotonergic and glutamatergic enhancement in the prefrontal cortex of bulbectomized animals, and the reversal of the alterations of the bulbectomy model regarding 5-HT1A and CB1 receptors functionality, and the expression of protein markers associated to neuroprofliferation and neuroplasticity. The findings of this thesis support the efficacy of cannabidiol for the treatment of depression, what would represent an improved alternative to the current antidepressant treatments used in clinical practice, due to its quick actions and lack of adverse effects.