Comorbid cannabis abuse has a significant negative impact on the course and treatment of schizophrenia. Comorbid cannabis abuse is highly prevalent in schizophrenia and schizophrenics prefer cannabis to other illicit drugs. There are no pharmacological studies characterizing the effects of cannabis in schizophrenics. The existing literature is limited by its exclusive reliance on naturalistic, retrospective self-report studies. These studies suggest that cannabis may reduce certain symptoms associated with schizophrenia at the expense of worsening others. Studying the effects of cannabis on the symptoms of schizophrenia is the first step in understanding the problem of cannabis abuse and schizophrenia. Cannabis continues to be a public health problem in the general population. While an association between cannabis use and psychosis in """"""""healthy"""""""" individuals has been reported, the magnitude of cannabis' psychogenic effects has not been adequately studied using standardized assessments. This investigation proposes to answer the following questions: 1. Does THC have anxiolytic and euphoric effects in schizophrenia? 2. Is there altered cannabinoid sensitivity in schizophrenia: does THC increase psychosis and cognitive deficits in schizophrenics, is THC psychogenic in controls and finally, are schizophrenics more vulnerable to the effects of THC? Study subjects will be stable schizophrenics with previous cannabis exposure and matched controls. They will be tested under three conditions: placebo, 2.5 and 5mg THC delivered IV. Primary outcome measures are: PANSS, Visual Analogue Scale for Mood Disorders, CADSS (perceptual alteration scale) and tests sensitive to frontal and temporal cortical function. Secondary measures include measures of drug liking, movement rating scales and long term follow-up assessment of cannabis use.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA012382-02
Application #
6515669
Study Section
Clinical Psychopathology Review Committee (CPP)
Program Officer
Grant, Steven J
Project Start
2001-03-15
Project End
2004-02-29
Budget Start
2002-03-01
Budget End
2003-02-28
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$198,009
Indirect Cost
Name
Yale University
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
082359691
City
New Haven
State
CT
Country
United States
Zip Code
06520
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Sherif, Mohamed; Radhakrishnan, Rajiv; D'Souza, Deepak Cyril et al. (2016) Human Laboratory Studies on Cannabinoids and Psychosis. Biol Psychiatry 79:526-38
Wilkinson, Samuel T; Yarnell, Stephanie; Radhakrishnan, Rajiv et al. (2016) Marijuana Legalization: Impact on Physicians and Public Health. Annu Rev Med 67:453-66
Gupta, Swapnil; Ranganathan, Mohini; D'Souza, Deepak Cyril (2016) The early identification of psychosis: can lessons be learnt from cardiac stress testing? Psychopharmacology (Berl) 233:19-37
Cortes-Briones, Jose A; Cahill, John D; Skosnik, Patrick D et al. (2015) The psychosis-like effects of ?(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol are associated with increased cortical noise in healthy humans. Biol Psychiatry 78:805-13
Wilkinson, Samuel T; Radhakrishnan, Rajiv; D'Souza, Deepak Cyril (2014) Impact of Cannabis Use on the Development of Psychotic Disorders. Curr Addict Rep 1:115-128
Sewell, R Andrew; Schnakenberg, Ashley; Elander, Jacqueline et al. (2013) Acute effects of THC on time perception in frequent and infrequent cannabis users. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 226:401-13
Spaderna, Max; Addy, Peter H; D'Souza, Deepak Cyril (2013) Spicing things up: synthetic cannabinoids. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 228:525-40
D'Souza, Deepak Cyril; Fridberg, Daniel J; Skosnik, Patrick D et al. (2012) Dose-related modulation of event-related potentials to novel and target stimuli by intravenous ??-THC in humans. Neuropsychopharmacology 37:1632-46
D'Souza, Deepak Cyril; Sewell, Richard Andrew; Ranganathan, Mohini (2009) Cannabis and psychosis/schizophrenia: human studies. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 259:413-31

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