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Electroconvulsive therapy enhances endocannabinoids in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with major depression: a preliminary prospective study

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Abstract

Despite the lack of clinical data about the role of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in affective disorders, preclinical work suggests that the ECS is relevant in both with regard to the etiology of depression as well as the mediation of antidepressant effects. We measured the intraindividual levels of the endocannabinoids N-arachidonoylethanolamine (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) in the cerebrospinal fluid of 12 patients suffering from a major depressive episode before and after the antidepressant treatment by electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). AEA was significantly elevated after ECT as compared to baseline. The AEA increase positively correlated with the number of individually performed ECT sessions. Although the sample size was small and confounders were not rigorously controlled for, our finding corroborates preclinical work and should encourage further exploration of the involvement of the ECS in depressive disorder.

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Acknowledgements

LK received support by the German Research Foundation (DFG—Grant No. KR 4689/3-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany

    Laura Kranaster, Suna Su Aksay, F. Markus Leweke & Alexander Sartorius

  2. Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

    Carolin Hoyer

  3. Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH), Medical Faculty Mannheim/University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany

    Jan Malte Bumb

  4. Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University Medical Centre Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

    Christoph Janke & Manfred Thiel

  5. Institute for Physiological Chemistry, University Medical Center Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

    Beat Lutz & Laura Bindila

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  1. Laura Kranaster
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Correspondence to Laura Kranaster.

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L. Bindila and A. Sartorius shared last authorship.

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Kranaster, L., Hoyer, C., Aksay, S.S. et al. Electroconvulsive therapy enhances endocannabinoids in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with major depression: a preliminary prospective study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 267, 781–786 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-017-0789-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-017-0789-7

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