Cannabidiol attenuates methamphetamine-induced conditioned place preference via the Sigma1R/AKT/GSK-3β/CREB signaling pathway in rats

Methamphetamine (METH) is a highly addictive psychostimulant. Cannabidiol (CBD) is an exogenous cannabinoid without psychostimulating activity, which has potential therapeutic effects on opioid addiction. However, it is unclear whether CBD has therapeutic effects on METH-induced motivational effects. The present study examines whether CBD has a protective effect on METH-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in rats by regulating the Sigma1R and AKT-GSK3β-CREB signaling pathway. Seventy rats were equally and randomly divided into seven groups. The rat CPP model was established via the intraperitoneal injection (IP) of 2 mg/kg of METH. Next, the intraperitoneal injection of 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg/kg CBD was performed 1 h prior to the injection of saline or METH. The protein expression levels of Sigma1R, AKT, p-AKT, GSK-3β, p-GSK-3β, CREB, and p-CREB in the rats’ prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus and ventral tegmental were detected using western blot analysis. CBD was found to inhibit METH-induced CPP in a dose-dependent fashion. The expression levels of Sigma1R, p-AKT, p-GSK3β, and p-CREB increased significantly in the METH-induced CPP model. Treatment involving different doses of CBD caused differential inhibitory responses in the cellular protein abundance of Sigma1R, p-AKT, p-GSK3β, and p-CREB across various brain regions. The present study found that METH can induce CPP in rats. When a pretreatment of CBD is applied, the CBD can weaken CPP in METH-induced rats by regulating the SigmaR1/AKT/GSK-3β/CREB signaling pathway. The results of this study indicate that CBD has a potential therapeutic effect on METH-induced rewarding effects.