Université de Fribourg

Long-term effects of cannabis on brain structure

Battistella, Giovanni ; Fornari, Eleonora ; Annoni, Jean-Marie ; Chtioui, Haithem ; Dao, Kim ; Fabritius, Marie ; Favrat, Bernard ; Mall, Jean-Frédéric ; Maeder, Philippe ; Giroud, Christian

In: Neuropsychopharmacology, 2014, p. -

The dose-dependent toxicity of the main psychoactive component of cannabis in brain regions rich in cannabinoid CB1 receptors is well known in animal studies. However, research in humans does not show common findings across studies regarding the brain regions that are affected after long-term exposure to cannabis. In the present study, we investigate (using Voxel-based Morphometry) gray matter...

Université de Fribourg

Weed or wheel! FMRI, behavioural, and toxicological investigations of how cannabis smoking affects skills necessary for driving

Battistella, Giovanni ; Fornari, Eleonora ; Thomas, Aurélien ; Mall, Jean-Frédéric ; Chtioui, Haithem ; Appenzeller, Monique ; Annoni, Jean-Marie ; Favrat, Bernard ; Maeder, Philippe ; Giroud, Christian

In: PLoS ONE, 2013, vol. 8, no. 1, p. e52545

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug, however its effects on cognitive functions underling safe driving remain mostly unexplored. Our goal was to evaluate the impact of cannabis on the driving ability of occasional smokers, by investigating changes in the brain network involved in a tracking task. The subject characteristics, the percentage of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol in the joint, and...

Université de Fribourg

THCCOOH concentrations in whole blood: Are they useful in discriminating occasional from heavy smokers?

Fabritius, Marie ; Favrat, Bernard ; Chtioui, Haithem ; Battistella, Giovanni ; Annoni, Jean-Marie ; Appenzeller, Monique ; Dao, Kim ; Fornari, Eleonora ; Lauer, Estelle ; Mall, Jean-Frédéric ; Maeder, Philippe ; Mangin, Patrice ; Staub, Christian ; Giroud, Christian

In: Drug Testing and Analysis, 2013, vol. 6, no. 1-2, p. 155–163

Some forensic and clinical circumstances require knowledge of the frequency of drug use. Care of the patient, administrative, and legal consequences will be different if the subject is a regular or an occasional cannabis smoker. To this end, 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH) has been proposed as a criterion to help to distinguish between these two groups of users. However, to...

Université de Fribourg

Comparison of cannabinoid concentrations in oral fluid and whole blood between occasional and regular cannabis smokers prior to and after smoking a cannabis joint

Fabritius, Marie ; Chtioui, Haithem ; Battistella, Giovanni ; Annoni, Jean Marie ; Dao, Kim ; Favrat, Bernard ; Fornari, Eleonora ; Lauer, Estelle ; Maeder, Philippe ; Giroud, Christian

In: Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2013, vol. 405, no. 30, p. 9791–9803

A cross-over controlled administration study of smoked cannabis was carried out on occasional and heavy smokers. The participants smoked a joint (11 % Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)) or a matching placebo on two different occasions. Whole blood (WB) and oral fluid (OF) samples were collected before and up to 3.5 h after smoking the joints. Pharmacokinetic analyses were obtained from these data....