Abstract
Background
Cannabidiol (CBD) and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are the two principal ingredients of natural cannabis with counteracting functions. Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are much more potent than natural cannabis, since they act as a more potent full agonist at the cannabinoid subtype 1 receptor than THC, and they also lack cannabinoids such as CBD that may otherwise counteract psychoactive properties of THC. Therefore, SCs may induce a more severe clinical presentation than natural cannabis does: the use of SCs may be associated with agitation, anxiety, tachycardia, hallucinations, irritability, memory and cognitive impairment, violent behavior, unresponsiveness, and psychosis.
Clinical characteristics, specificity of the disease course and patient profile of the SC-induced psychoses are still poorly characterized in the scientific literature. The present study was therefore designed to evaluate the psychotic disorders in patients with synthetic cannabinoid use disorder in terms of patient profile and clinical characteristics with reference to their follow-up.
Methods
A total of 60 male patients (n=60; mean (standard deviation [SD]) age: 23.6 (3.5) years) diagnosed with psychotic disorder induced by the SC use who were hospitalized at the intensive care unit or emergency department of the Moscow Research and Practical Centre on Addictions of the Moscow Department of Healthcare were included in this single-centre, longitudinal, observational cohort study. The catamnestic follow-up period was up to 2 years.
Results
We evaluated different clinical cases of SC-induced psychoses and identified four clinical types of them on the ground of leading psychopathological syndrome during the patient’s entire length of hospitalization:
Then we performed a catamnestic follow-up of patients to reveal the possible schizophrenic process manifestation in patients who use SC. Catamnestic follow-up revealed that manifestation of the schizophrenic process was present in 8 patients (13% of cases).
Discussion
Our results revealed that SC-induced psychoses affect young adults primarily. Consistent with the statement that the majority of first-time SC users are experienced marijuana smokers, SC was used following other transitional substances rather than as the first substance in the majority of our patients, with cannabis being the most popular antecedent substance. SC was not the first substance used in the majority of our patients, and it had been preceded by use of other transitional substances, such as cannabis in most cases.
Despite the exogenous nature, structurally such psychoses are often endoformic. For instance, even the delirium is atypical and includes the elements of Kandinsky-Clerambault’s syndrome. Psychopathologically hallucinations and delusions dominate in the clinical presentation of the psychoses (with predominant hallucinatory symptoms or affective paranoid symptoms). Development of substance-induced psychoses is often associated with the manifestation of the schizophrenic process (in our study it was revealed in 13% of cases). It is extremely difficult to create a differential diagnosis between such psychotic disorders and a primary endogenous psychotic episode. In such cases the appearance of deficit symptoms specific for schizophrenia becomes crucial.
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