Interaction between the cholecystokinin and endogenous cannabinoid systems in cued fear expression and extinction retention

Neuropsychopharmacology. 2015 Feb;40(3):688-700. doi: 10.1038/npp.2014.225. Epub 2014 Sep 1.

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is thought to develop, in part, from improper inhibition of fear. Accordingly, one of the most effective treatment strategies for PTSD is exposure-based psychotherapy. Ideally, neuroscience would inform adjunct therapies that target the neurotransmitter systems involved in extinction processes. Separate studies have implicated the cholecystokinin (CCK) and endocannabinoid systems in fear; however, there is a high degree of anatomical colocalization between the cannabinoid 1 receptor (Cnr1) and CCK in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a brain region critical for emotion regulation. Although most research has focused on GABA and GABAergic plasticity as the mechanism by which Cnr1 mediates fear inhibition, we hypothesize that a functional interaction between Cnr1 and CCKB receptor (CCKBR) is critical for fear extinction processes. In this study, systemic pharmacological manipulation of the cannabinoid system modulated cued fear expression in C57BL/6J mice after consolidation of auditory fear conditioning. Knockout of the CCKBR, however, had no effect on fear- or anxiety-like behaviors. Nonetheless, administration of a Cnr1 antagonist increased freezing behavior during a cued fear expression test in wild-type subjects, but had no effect on freezing behavior in CCKBR knockout littermates. In addition, we found that Cnr1-positive fibers form perisomatic clusters around CCKBR-positive cell bodies in the BLA. These CCKBR-positive cells comprise a molecularly heterogenous population of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. These findings provide novel evidence that Cnr1 contributes to cued fear expression via an interaction with the CCK system. Dysfunctional Cnr1-CCKBR interactions might contribute to the etiology of, or result from, fear-related psychiatric disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Amidohydrolases / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Animals
  • Benzamides / pharmacology
  • Cannabinoid Receptor Antagonists / pharmacology
  • Carbamates / pharmacology
  • Cholecystokinin / physiology*
  • Conditioning, Psychological / drug effects
  • Conditioning, Psychological / physiology
  • Cues*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Extinction, Psychological / drug effects
  • Extinction, Psychological / physiology*
  • Fear / drug effects
  • Fear / physiology*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Piperidines / pharmacology
  • Pyrazoles / pharmacology
  • Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1 / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1 / physiology*
  • Receptor, Cholecystokinin B / genetics
  • Receptor, Cholecystokinin B / physiology*
  • Rimonabant

Substances

  • Benzamides
  • Cannabinoid Receptor Antagonists
  • Carbamates
  • Piperidines
  • Pyrazoles
  • Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1
  • Receptor, Cholecystokinin B
  • cyclohexyl carbamic acid 3'-carbamoylbiphenyl-3-yl ester
  • Cholecystokinin
  • Amidohydrolases
  • fatty-acid amide hydrolase
  • Rimonabant