Motion sickness, stress and the endocannabinoid system

• Published in: PloS one 2010-05, Vol.5 (5), p.e10752-e10752
• Main Authors: Choukèr, Alexander, Kaufmann, Ines, Kreth, Simone, Hauer, Daniela, Feuerecker, Matthias, Thieme, Detlef, Vogeser, Michael, Thiel, Manfred, Schelling, Gustav
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 2-Arachidonoylglycerol; Adult; Aircraft; Aircraft maneuvers; Anandamide; Anesthesiology; Blood; Cannabinoid CB1 receptors; Cannabinoid CB2 receptors; Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators - blood; Demography; Endocannabinoid system; Endocannabinoids; Experiments; Flight; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation; Health aspects; Humans; Hydrocortisone - metabolism; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System - metabolism; Leukocytes; Male; Medical research; Microgravity; Motion sickness; Motion Sickness - blood; Motion Sickness - complications; Nausea; Nausea - blood; Nausea - complications; Neuromodulation; Parabolas; Parabolic flight; Physiology/Endocrinology; Physiology/Neural Homeostasis; Pituitary-Adrenal System - metabolism; Public Health and Epidemiology; Receptor mechanisms; Receptors, Cannabinoid - genetics; Receptors, Cannabinoid - metabolism; RNA; Signaling; Stress; Stress response; Stress, Physiological; Stresses; Vomiting
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010752

A substantial number of individuals are at risk for the development of motion sickness induced nausea and vomiting (N&V) during road, air or sea travel. Motion sickness can be extremely stressful but the neurobiologic mechanisms leading to motion sickness are not clear. The endocannabinoid system (ECS) represents an important neuromodulator of stress and N&V. Inhibitory effects of the ECS on N&V are mediated by endocannabinoid-receptor activation. We studied the activity of the ECS in human volunteers (n = 21) during parabolic flight maneuvers (PFs). During PFs, microgravity conditions (