Effects of cannabidiol on oxidative stress and glial activation in female rats with neuropathic pain.

• Grant number: 25/13872-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2025
• End date: September 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Christie Ramos Andrade Leite Panissi
• Grantee: Christie Ramos Andrade Leite Panissi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: Ribeirão Preto
• Associated research grant: 22/05471-0 - Pain modulation: effects of systemic treatment with cannabidiol and possible mechanisms, AP.R
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/22596-0 - Effects of cannabidiol on oxidative stress and glial activation in female rats with neuropathic pain, BP.IC

Abstract

Pain is a common experience shared by nearly all human beings and is described as an unpleasant sensation associated with actual or potential tissue damage. It plays a crucial role by alerting the body to possible injuries, triggering protective responses. Pain can be classified as acute, with short duration, or chronic, persisting for weeks to years. Chronic pain affects a significant portion of the global population and is considered a public health problem by the World Health Organization (WHO), with substantial medical, social, and economic impact. Traditional management of chronic pain often relies on the use of opioid analgesics, which may lead to the development of tolerance, dependence, and other adverse effects. In this context, it is essential to investigate safer and more effective therapeutic alternatives. Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid extracted from the Cannabis sativa plant, has shown promise due to its analgesic, anxiolytic, and anti-inflammatory properties.Our recent studies have demonstrated the analgesic effects of CBD, as well as its ability to reduce anxiety associated with persistent pain. In the study by Cardoso-Silva et al. (2021), the analgesic and anxiolytic effects of CBD were possibly mediated by the modulation of CB1 and TRPV1 receptor expression in corticolimbic regions. In a second approach (Macêdo-Souza et al., 2023), chronic treatment with CBD was effective in promoting analgesia in a neuropathic pain model across different rat strains with distinct anxiety profiles, indicating that its effects are robust even in the face of behavioral genetic variation. It is important to highlight that pain perception may differ by sex in both animal models and humans. Indeed, evidence has shown that there are sex-related neurobiological differences in pain processing.The inclusion of both sexes in preclinical studies has proven to be essential for advancing scientific research and for a better understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying various pathologies, including chronic and persistent pain. Therefore, considering the biological differences between sexes in the perception and processing of pain, the present activity plan aims to evaluate the effects of systemic CBD treatment on markers of oxidative stress and glial activation in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray matter (vlPAG) of female rats in an experimental model of peripheral neuropathic pain. (AU)