Basic validation studies of endocannabinoids levels in hair for use in psychological and biomedical research

内源性大麻素(ECs)似乎分别在应激相关过程中以及在焦虑和情感障碍的发展中发挥重要作用。虽然血液水平反映了EC在相当有限的时间内的生物利用度，从几个小时到几天，毛发中EC的浓度可能会提供一个涵盖几个月的完整的生物标志物。尽管初步研究结果显示头发内皮细胞评估是有用的，但关于这种方法的有效性和可靠性，仍然需要基本的信息来表征身体的S EC系统。因此，计划进行一系列四项研究，以解决一系列变量对头发提取物中ECs水平的潜在影响。因此，本提案旨在评估毛发内皮细胞测量在生物医学和心理学研究中的使用，并特别关注该方法的有效性和可靠性。

Endocannabinoids (ECs) appear to play important roles in stress-related processes and in the development of anxiety and affective disorders, respectively. While blood levels reflect EC bioavailability for a rather limited time period from hours to a few days, the concentration of ECs in hair may provide an integral biomarker covering several months. Despite promising pilot study results suggesting the usefulness of hair ECs assessments, fundamental information is still needed regarding the validity and reliability of this approach to characterize the body´s EC system. Therefore, a series of four studies are planned that will address a range of variables of potential influence on the levels of ECs quantified in hair extracts. The present proposal thus aims to evaluate the use of hair ECs measurements in biomedical and psychological research with a special focus on the validity and reliability of the method.