Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30185448›Full record

Trial reportNeurology2018

Cannabis analgesia in chronic neuropathic pain is associated with altered brain connectivity.

Libat Weizman, Lior Dayan, Silviu Brill, Hadas Nahman-Averbuch, Talma Hendler, Giris Jacob, Haggai Sharon

Open access · bronzeAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Neurology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
62citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
7.0field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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

62 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 118 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Cys-loop receptors on cannabinoids: All high?Frontiers in physiology · 2022
    Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Cannabidiol and ΔToxicology · 2026
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article

2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Libat WeizmanFrom the Sagol Brain Institute (L.W., T.H., H.S.), Institute of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (L.D., S.B., H.S.), and Department of Internal Medicine F (G.J.), Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center; Sagol School of Neuroscience (L.W., T.H.) and Sackler School of Medicine (L.D., T.H., G.J., H.S.), Tel Aviv University, Israel; Department of Anesthesia (H.N.-A.), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, OH; and Pain Management & Neuromodulation Centre (H.S.), Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Lior DayanFrom the Sagol Brain Institute (L.W., T.H., H.S.), Institute of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (L.D., S.B., H.S.), and Department of Internal Medicine F (G.J.), Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center; Sagol School of Neuroscience (L.W., T.H.) and Sackler School of Medicine (L.D., T.H., G.J., H.S.), Tel Aviv University, Israel; Department of Anesthesia (H.N.-A.), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, OH; and Pain Management & Neuromodulation Centre (H.S.), Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Silviu BrillFrom the Sagol Brain Institute (L.W., T.H., H.S.), Institute of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (L.D., S.B., H.S.), and Department of Internal Medicine F (G.J.), Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center; Sagol School of Neuroscience (L.W., T.H.) and Sackler School of Medicine (L.D., T.H., G.J., H.S.), Tel Aviv University, Israel; Department of Anesthesia (H.N.-A.), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, OH; and Pain Management & Neuromodulation Centre (H.S.), Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Hadas Nahman-AverbuchFrom the Sagol Brain Institute (L.W., T.H., H.S.), Institute of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (L.D., S.B., H.S.), and Department of Internal Medicine F (G.J.), Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center; Sagol School of Neuroscience (L.W., T.H.) and Sackler School of Medicine (L.D., T.H., G.J., H.S.), Tel Aviv University, Israel; Department of Anesthesia (H.N.-A.), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, OH; and Pain Management & Neuromodulation Centre (H.S.), Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Talma HendlerFrom the Sagol Brain Institute (L.W., T.H., H.S.), Institute of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (L.D., S.B., H.S.), and Department of Internal Medicine F (G.J.), Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center; Sagol School of Neuroscience (L.W., T.H.) and Sackler School of Medicine (L.D., T.H., G.J., H.S.), Tel Aviv University, Israel; Department of Anesthesia (H.N.-A.), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, OH; and Pain Management & Neuromodulation Centre (H.S.), Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Giris JacobFrom the Sagol Brain Institute (L.W., T.H., H.S.), Institute of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (L.D., S.B., H.S.), and Department of Internal Medicine F (G.J.), Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center; Sagol School of Neuroscience (L.W., T.H.) and Sackler School of Medicine (L.D., T.H., G.J., H.S.), Tel Aviv University, Israel; Department of Anesthesia (H.N.-A.), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, OH; and Pain Management & Neuromodulation Centre (H.S.), Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Haggai SharonFrom the Sagol Brain Institute (L.W., T.H., H.S.), Institute of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (L.D., S.B., H.S.), and Department of Internal Medicine F (G.J.), Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center; Sagol School of Neuroscience (L.W., T.H.) and Sackler School of Medicine (L.D., T.H., G.J., H.S.), Tel Aviv University, Israel; Department of Anesthesia (H.N.-A.), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, OH; and Pain Management & Neuromodulation Centre (H.S.), Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. haggaisharon@gmail.com.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center · USTel Aviv University · IL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo characterize the functional brain changes involved in δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) modulation of chronic neuropathic pain.

methodsFifteen patients with chronic radicular neuropathic pain participated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial employing a counterbalanced, within-subjects design. Pain assessments and functional resting state brain scans were performed at baseline and after sublingual THC administration. We examined functional connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and pain-related network dynamics using graph theory measures.

resultsTHC significantly reduced patients' pain compared to placebo. THC-induced analgesia was correlated with a reduction in functional connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the sensorimotor cortex. Moreover, the degree of reduction was predictive of the response to THC. Graph theory analyses of local measures demonstrated reduction in network connectivity in areas involved in pain processing, and specifically in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which were correlated with individual pain reduction.

conclusionThese results suggest that the ACC and DLPFC, 2 major cognitive-emotional modulation areas, and their connections to somatosensory areas, are functionally involved in the analgesic effect of THC in chronic pain. This effect may therefore be mediated through induction of functional disconnection between regulatory high-order affective regions and the sensorimotor cortex. Moreover, baseline functional connectivity between these brain areas may serve as a predictor for the extent of pain relief induced by THC.

Indexed as

Administration, SublingualAdultAnalgesicsBrainBrain MappingChronic PainDouble-Blind MethodDronabinolHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMedical MarijuanaNeuralgiaNeural PathwaysPain ManagementRestAnalgesicsDronabinolMedical Marijuana

Identifiers

PMID30185448
PMCPMC6177269
OpenAlexW2890434263

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.