Cannabinoid ligands during development

As early as in the 1970s, the potential use of cannabinoid ligands as antihypertensive agents had been considered (Archer 1974 Crawford and Merritt 1979 Varma et al. 1975 Zaugg and Kyncl 1983), in the hope that their neurobehavioral and cardiovascular effects could be separated. Although an early study in normotensive rats indicated rapidly developing tolerance to the hypotensive and bradycardic effects of THC (Adams et al. 1976), a subsequent study in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) found no evidence for tolerance for the same effects during a similar, 10-day treatment period (Kosersky 1978). 

Most of the studies carried out on the presence and/or the activity of the components of this system during development have focused on the cannabinoid CBi receptor (Mailleux and Vanderhaeghen 1992a Romero et al. 1997 Berrendero et al. 1998 Buckley et al. 1998 Mato et al. 2003). There is also some information about the cannabinoid receptor ligands anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) (Berrendero et al. 1999). 

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