Publication Date:
2020-11-05
Description:
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by multiple comorbidities including pain. SCD patients often use cannabinoids to alleviate pain, but their psychoactive effects and social stigma impose major challenges. Strategies to elevate endogenous cannabinoids (eCBs) are devoid of such challenges, but pharmacologic approaches showed adverse-effects in clinical trials. Therefore, we examined the potential of non-pharmacologic integrative approaches to elevate eCBs. Enriched high-energy diet has been shown to increase levels of eCBs (Argueta et al., Front Physiol 2019) and when combined with companionship reduced hyperalgesia in sickle mice (Tran et al., Blood 2016). We hypothesized that enriched diet and companionship would enhance eCBs without adverse effects and reduce hyperalgesia by inhibiting peripheral and central pro-nociceptive mechanisms. We fed male homozygous-BERK (sickle) mice, regular Rodent Diet (RD; 2018, Harlan) or customized high calorie enriched Sickle Mouse Diet (SD; 59M3, TestDiet), housed with or without a female companion (C+ or C-, respectively) for 3-weeks. RD/SD contain 18.6/26.4% protein, 6.2/11.1% fat, 24/27.5% carbohydrates and 18/26% kcal/g, respectively; and SD contains higher minerals, vitamins and ω-3 fatty acids compared to RD. Control HbAA-BERK and sickle mice were divided into 4 groups: [i] R/C-, RD, no companion, [ii] S/C-, SD without companion, [iii] R/C+, RD with companion, and [iv] S/C+, SD with companion. After 3-weeks of treatment, spinal cord eCBs were analyzed using targeted lipid quantitation with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS). We observed a 20% decrease in palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), in sickle mice compared to control mice, in R/C- group (p
Print ISSN:
0006-4971
Electronic ISSN:
1528-0020
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
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