Posted on 12/13/2005 11:39:56 PM PST by Babu
MONTREAL, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A McGill University study suggests a new anti-depressant drug works by raising levels of endocannabinoids -- similar to a substance found in marijuana.
The study suggests the new drug, called URB597, might represent a safer alternative to use of marijuana for treatment of pain and depression, and open the door to new and improved treatments for clinical depression.
In pre-clinical laboratory tests researchers found URB597 increased the production of endocannabinoids by blocking their degradation, resulting in measurable antidepressant effects.
"This is the first time it has been shown a drug that increases endocannabinoids in the brain can improve your mood," said lead investigator Dr. Gabriella Gobbi, a researcher at Montreal and McGill Universities.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
Well, there's no shortage of pot-heads in Montreal to use as test subjects :-)
So like, where can I score some ???
If it's based on Marijuana it shouldn't be approved.
Sure it should, as long as it is prescribed by a doctor for a real ailment.
What the doctors fail to inform the patients of, is how addictive most of these meds are & how hard it is to withdraw from them. I thought I was going to die trying to get off those meds.
During that time, I had an opportunity to talk to many other people addicted to meds due to pain or depression & how much more difficult these meds made their lives, instead of relieving the pain or problems they had to begin with.
Not true. Millions of people have testified that cannabinoids improve their mood. Thats why they smoke it.
BTTT
Although anecdotal reports suggest that cannabis may be used to alleviate symptoms of depression, the psychotropic effects and abuse liability of this drug prevent its therapeutic application. The active constituent of cannabis, 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, acts by binding to brain CB1 cannabinoid receptors, but an alternative approach might be to develop agents that amplify the actions of endogenous cannabinoids by blocking their deactivation. Here, we show that URB597, a selective inhibitor of the enzyme fatty-acid amide hydrolase, which catalyzes the intracellular hydrolysis of the endocannabinoid anandamide, exerts potent antidepressant-like effects in the mouse tail-suspension test and the rat forced-swim test. Moreover, URB597 increases firing activity of serotonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus and noradrenergic neurons in the nucleus locus ceruleus. These actions are prevented by the CB1 antagonist rimonabant, are accompanied by increased brain anandamide levels, and are maintained upon repeated URB597 administration. Unlike direct CB1 agonists, URB597 does not exert rewarding effects in the conditioned place preference test or produce generalization to the discriminative effects of 9-tetrahydrocannabinol in rats. The findings support a role for anandamide in mood regulation and point to fatty-acid amide hydrolase as a previously uncharacterized target for antidepressant drugs.
I wouldn't be surprised if one of the next class of drugs for treating high blood pressure takes advantage of the endocannabinergic system.
Endocannabinoids acting at cannabinoid-1 receptors regulate cardiovascular function in hypertension.
Thanks for posting this. I had no idea endocannabinoids were actually produced in the human body.
I expect this to be wholly rejected by the medical marijuana crowd because that is not what the movement is really about.
What's wrong with the original one?!
Many painkillers are based on opium. Should they also be banned?
I hear it causes minorities to rape white women as well.
From the tone of your sarcastic answer, I take it you disagree. Good for you.
You mean groveling for government approval and billions of dollars to some mega-drug companies - for something that works not quite as well at 5 times the price - your are correct - that is EXACTLY what the MM crowd doesn't want.
"If it's based on Marijuana it shouldn't be approved."
Darn right. And if there are other drugs based on opium, or cocaine, or anything illegally used, same for those. And we should ban other useful stuff because it might be tangentially related to illegal items, too.
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