ANTI-ISCHEMIA ACTIVITY OF HU-211, A NON-PSYCHOTROPIC SYNTHETIC CANNABINOID

The novel tricyclic-terpenoid type cannabinoid, HU-211, was tested in gerbils and rats for protection against the effects of cerebral ischem ia. Our transient ischemic models in gerbils and rats are based on the protection afforded against the lethal effects of global ischemia. HU -211 gave over 30% protection, by i.v. administration. The optimal dos e ranges of HU-211 were between 5 and 10 mg/kg i.v. In gerbils we used a transient ischemia model induced by occlusion (10 min) of the bilat eral common carotid arteries (BCCA). HU-211, 8 mg/kg i.v., gave a sign ificantly (p less-than-or-equal-to 0.05) better in vivo performed than a control group over three days following ischemia. Histology perform ed in gerbil model also resulted in significantly (p < 0.001) diminish ed degeneration area of CA1 in the hippocampus after treatment of HU-2 11. In the rat model, after four vessel occlusion (4VO) (20 min), HU-2 11 treatment significantly (p < 0.01) improved neurobehavior scoring. These results show that the new synthetic cannabinoid can protect agai nst hippocampal neuron damage due to selective brain injury induced by cerebral global ischemia in gerbils or rats.