Maternal separation plus social isolation during adolescence reprogram brain dopamine and endocannabinoid systems and facilitate alcohol intake in rats.

Adverse early life experiences, i.e. abusive parenting, during postnatal development, induce long-lasting effects on the stress response systems and behavior.

Opposed cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) expression in the prefrontal cortex vs. nucleus accumbens is associated with alcohol consumption in male rats.

Abusive alcohol consumption is a health problem, worldwide. There is extensive literature indicating that cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) plays a crucial role in mediating alcohol's reward effects. Maternal care deprivation (MCD) is a reliable rodent model of early life stress that leads to high levels of anxiety and alterations in motivation, which may increase vulnerability to alcohol consumption.

Endocannabinoids and sleep.

Sleep is regulated by several brain structures, neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Endocannabinoids (eCBs) are a group of lipids with modulatory activity in the brain and bind mainly to cannabinoid receptors CB1R and CB2R, thereby modulating several brain functions, (memory, mood, food intake, pain perception). Oleoylethanolamide and palmitoylethanolamide belong to the N-acylethanolamides (NAEs) family, another type of active endogenous lipids.

mGluR1/5 activation in the lateral hypothalamus increases food intake via the endocannabinoid system.

Mounting evidence has shown that glutamatergic and endocannabinoid systems in the hypothalamus regulate mammalian food intake. Stimulation of hypothalamic mGluR1/5 and CB1 receptors induces hyperphagia suggesting a possible interaction between these systems to control food intake. In addition, synthesis of endocannabinoids has been reported after mGluR1/5 stimulation in the brain.