Endocannabinoids and reproductive behaviour

我们实验室之前的研究重点是5-羟色胺，这是大脑中的一种化学信使。5-羟色胺通过激活一些不同的感受器在大脑中发挥作用，而这些感受器又会改变一些行为。我们发现，一种特殊的5-羟色胺受体，即2A受体，对生殖行为有重大影响。特别有趣的是，这种受体对生殖行为的影响在男性和女性中是相反的。激活大鼠体内的这种2A受体，抑制男性的性活动，促进女性的性活动。就在最近，我们完成了对大麻和生殖行为的科学文献的彻底审查，得出结论，大麻也可能对性活动产生相反的影响--抑制男性的性活动，促进女性的性活动--类似于我们激活2A受体时所看到的情况。大麻通过作用于单一受体--CB1受体--在大脑中发挥作用。大脑中有一种自然产生的物质，称为内源性大麻素，作用于CB1受体。尽管对内源性大麻素的研究越来越多，但我们仍然对这些自然产生的大脑化学物质如何在大脑中控制行为知之甚少。我们发现，内源性大麻素CB1受体和2A受体密切相关--改变一个直接影响另一个。我们还知道，内源性大麻素和5-羟色胺都与压力时期发生的生理变化密切相关。这项研究的目的是了解内源性大麻素在生殖行为中的作用。这项研究要回答的问题包括：内源性大麻素对生殖行为有什么影响？它们在男性和女性中是相反的吗？对性行为的影响依赖于2A受体的激活吗？应激或应激激素控制对内源性大麻素的行为生殖反应吗？重要的是，我们要了解内源性大麻素系统如何影响生殖行为，因为人们对使用作用于该系统的药物来治疗各种疾病，如抑郁症、肥胖症和吸烟非常感兴趣。

Previous research in our laboratory has focused on serotonin, a chemical messenger in the brain. Serotonin works in the brain by activating a number of different receptors, which in turn alter a number of behaviours. We have found that one specific serotonin receptor, the 2A receptor, has significant effects on reproductive behaviour. What is especially interesting is that the effects of this receptor on reproductive behaviour are opposite in males and females. Activating this 2A receptor in the rat, inhibits sexual activity in males and facilitates sexual activity in females. Just recently we completed a thorough review of the scientific literature on cannabis and reproductive behaviour, and concluded that cannabis might also exert opposite effects on sexual activity - inhibiting sexual activity in males and facilitating sexual activity in females - similar to what we see when we activate the 2A receptor. Cannabis works in the brain by acting on a single receptor - the CB1 receptor. There are naturally occurring substances in the brain called endocannabinoids which act on this CB1 receptor. Although there is increasing research on the endocannabinoids, we still know very little about how these naturally occurring brain chemicals work in the brain to control behaviour.  We have found that the endocannabinoid CB1 receptor and the 2A receptor are closely linked - altering one directly affects the other. We also know that both endocannabinoids and serotonin are closely linked to the physiological changes that occur during times of stress.  The purpose of this research is to understand the role of the endocannabinoids in reproductive behaviour. Questions to be answered from this research include: What are the effects of endocannabinoids on reproductive behaviour? Are they opposite in males and females? Are the effects on sexual activity dependent on activation of the 2A receptor? Do stress or stress hormones control the behavioural reproductive responses to endocannabinoids? It is important that we understand how the endocannabinoid system influences reproductive behaviour as there is much interest in using medications that act on this system to treat a variety of conditions such as depression, obesity and smoking.