Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25041240›Full record

ArticleBritish journal of pharmacology2014

Endocannabinoid modulation by FAAH and monoacylglycerol lipase within the analgesic circuitry of the periaqueductal grey.

Benjamin K Lau, Geoffrey M Drew, Vanessa A Mitchell, Christopher W Vaughan

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in British journal of pharmacology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Glucocorticoid-endocannabinoid crosstalk in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) promotes pain resolution.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Overlapping pathways of migraine and the endocannabinoid system: Potential therapeutic targets.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026
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  15. Potential of Endocannabinoids to Control Bladder Pain.Frontiers in systems neuroscience · 2018
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Benjamin K LauPain Management Research Institute, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Northern Clinical School, The University of Sydney at Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW, Australia.
Geoffrey M Drew
Vanessa A Mitchell
Christopher W Vaughan
Royal North Shore Hospital · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeEndogenous cannabinoids (endocannabinoids) in the periaqueductal grey (PAG) play a vital role in mediating stress-induced analgesia. This analgesic effect of endocannabinoids is enhanced by pharmacological inhibition of their degradative enzymes. However, the specific effects of endocannabinoids and the inhibitors of their degradation are largely unknown within this pain-modulating region. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: In vitro electrophysiological recordings were conducted from PAG neurons in rat midbrain slices. The effects of the major endocannabinoids and their degradation inhibitors on inhibitory GABAergic synaptic transmission were examined. KEY

resultsExogenous application of the endocannabinoid, anandamide (AEA), but not 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), produced a reduction in inhibitory GABAergic transmission in PAG neurons. This AEA-induced suppression of inhibition was enhanced by the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor, URB597, whereas a 2-AG-induced suppression of inhibition was unmasked by the monoacylglycerol lipase (MGL) inhibitor, JZL184. In addition, application of the CB1 receptor antagonist, AM251, facilitated the basal GABAergic transmission in the presence of URB597 and JZL184, which was further enhanced by the dual FAAH/MGL inhibitor, JZL195. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our results indicate that AEA and 2-AG act via disinhibition within the PAG, a cellular action consistent with analgesia. These actions of AEA and 2-AG are tightly regulated by their respective degradative enzymes, FAAH and MGL. Furthermore, individual or combined inhibition of FAAH and/or MGL enhanced tonic disinhibition within the PAG. Therefore, the current findings support the therapeutic potential of FAAH and MGL inhibitors as a novel pharmacotherapy for pain.

Indexed as

AmidohydrolasesAnimalsArachidonic AcidsBenzamidesBenzodioxolesCarbamatesEndocannabinoidsFatty Acid Amide HydrolasesFemaleGlyceridesInhibitory Postsynaptic PotentialsIn Vitro TechniquesMaleMonoacylglycerol LipasesNeuronsPainAmidohydrolasesanandamideArachidonic AcidsBenzamidesBenzodioxolesCarbamatescyclohexyl carbamic acid 3'-carbamoylbiphenyl-3-yl esterEndocannabinoidsFatty Acid Amide HydrolasesGlyceridesglyceryl 2-arachidonateJZL 184Monoacylglycerol LipasesPiperidinesPolyunsaturated AlkamidesReceptor, Cannabinoid, CB1

Identifiers

PMID25041240
PMCPMC4294036
OpenAlexW1938154749

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.