Exploring the basis of cannabinoid analgesia in humans

大麻历来被用来提供止痛(止痛)，但它如何做到这一点仍然存在争议。在从大麻中提取的大麻素(大麻类药物)中，9-四氢大麻酚(？-9-THC)被发现对患者有止痛作用。动物研究表明，？-9-THC和其他大麻素通过激活位于大脑疼痛处理区域的“受体”发挥作用。然而，这样的结果并不总是适用于人类，进一步开发用于患者的大麻类药物需要更好地了解它们在人脑中的作用方式和位置。这可以通过使用功能性磁共振成像来记录当受到β-9-THC影响时大脑不同区域对疼痛的反应。成像技术已经成熟，研究将在健康志愿者中进行，在这些志愿者中，可以安全和可逆地诱导实验性疼痛。这项研究将提供对疼痛处理过程中特定大脑区域功能的洞察，并为未来针对它们缓解疼痛的大麻素类药物的开发提供信息。

Cannabis is historically used to provide analgesia (pain relief) but how it does so remains debatable. Of the cannabinoids (cannabis-like drugs) derived from cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (?-9-THC) is found to provide analgesia in patients. Animal studies have shown that ?-9-THC and other cannabinoids work by activating ‘receptors‘ which are found in pain processing areas of the brain. However, such results cannot always be translated to man, and further development of cannabinoids for use in patients requires better understanding of how and where they act in the human brain. This can be achieved by using functional magnetic resonance imaging to record how the various brain areas respond to pain when influenced by ?-9-THC. The imaging technique is well-established and the studies would be undertaken in healthy volunteers in whom experimental pain can be safely and reversibly induced. The research would provide insight into the functions of specific brain areas during pain processing and inform the development of future cannabinoids that target them for pain relief.