Abstract
Pretreatment with a fixed dose of δ 9-THC (20.0 mg/kg) produced a significant increase in the duration of action and number of mice exhibiting loss of the righting reflex (decrease in hypnotic dose50) after administration of several doses of nine different sedative-hypnotic drugs. Moreover, pretreatment with various doses of THC (0.625 to 40.0 mg/kg) caused a significant reduction in the onset to and duration of sleeping time of most of the sedative-hypnotic drugs tested. Careful statistical examination of all parameters measured revealed a rank order of sensitivity to the depressant actions of THC as follows: ethchlorvynol > meprobamate > hexobarbital > ethinamate > glutethimide > chloral hydrate > ethanol > methaqualone > paraldehyde.
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The authors wish to acknowledge Dr. Monique C. Braude, Executive Secretary, FDA-NIMH Psychotomimetic Agents Advisory Committee for the generous supply of THC; the following drug companies for generous supplies of sedative-hypnotic drugs: Abbott Laboratories, CIBA-Geigy Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly and Company and Winthrop Laboratories; Drs. Frank M. Berger and Milton Kletzkin for critical evaluation of the manuscript; and Dr. Herbert Barry, III, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh for help in statistical evaluation of the data.
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Sofia, R.D., Knobloch, L.C. The interaction of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol pretreatment with various sedative-hypnotic drugs. Psychopharmacologia 30, 185–194 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421433
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421433