“It is thought that endogenous cannabinoids have a role in the analgesia induced by specific forms of stress.
We examined if the role of endogenous cannabinoids is also dependent upon the mode of nociception, and whether this could be altered by drugs which block their enzymatic degradation.
These findings indicate the role of endocannabinoids in stress-induced analgesia differs with the type of thermal pain behaviour. However, by inhibiting their breakdown, endocannabinoids can be recruited to substitute for endogenous opioid signalling when their activity is blocked, indicating a degree of redundancy between opioid and cannabinoid systems.
Together these data suggest targeting endocannabinoid breakdown could provide an alternative, or adjuvant to mainstream analgesics such as opioids.”