Posted on 10/13/2005 2:38:13 PM PDT by Wolfie
Marijuana Compound Spurs Brain Cell Growth
In rat study, synthetic cannabinoid also boosted rodents' mood
THURSDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- When it comes to the controversy surrounding medical marijuana, an international team of researchers is busy stirring the pot by releasing findings that suggest the drug helps promote brain cell growth while treating mood disorders.
According to the study in rats, a super-potent synthetic version of the cannabinoid compound found in marijuana can reduce depression and anxiety when taken over an extended period of time.
This mood boost seems to be the result of the drug's ability to promote the growth of new brain cells, something no other addictive drug appears able to do, the researchers say.
The findings, which appear in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, remain preliminary, however.
"Our results were obtained from rats, and there's a big difference between rats and humans," said study co-author Dr. Xia Zhang, of the neuropsychiatry research unit in the department of psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada. "So, I don't really don't know yet if our findings apply to humans. But our results indicate that the clinical use of marijuana could make people feel better by helping control anxiety and depression."
The new findings come on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June granting federal authorities the power to stop doctors from prescribing marijuana. That decision also bars individuals from cultivating the herb for medical purposes.
The decision overrides laws currently on the books in 11 states which had legalized the use of marijuana for patients receiving a doctor's approval. According to the ruling, the Supreme Court justices made their decision on the basis of interstate commerce regulations rather than on an evaluation of the pros and cons of medical marijuana use.
But does medical marijuana work? To help settle that question, Zhang's team focused on the potential of a synthetic laboratory-produced form of the cannabinoid compound naturally found in the marijuana plant.
Humans and other animals also naturally produce the compound, and are known to have cannabinoid receptors lying on the surface of cells in the nervous system and the immune system.
Prior research has shown that, when exposed to cannabinoids, these receptors can provoke an anti-inflammatory and anti-convulsive response. They can also instigate a range of psychotropic effects such as euphoria.
The current study focused on a particular formulation of synthetic cannabinoid known as HU210 -- a compound which Zhang described as the most powerful cannabinoid in the world.
The authors explored both the short-term and long-term effects of exposure to HU210 in rats.
To measure the drug's short-term response, they gave adult rats a single injection of HU210. To study the same drug's effect over the longer term, the researchers gave a separate group of adult rats twice-daily injections of the cannabinoid over a two-week period.
Autopsies revealed that by the end of the 10-day HU210 treatment regimen, new neurons had been generated and integrated into the circuitry of the hippocampus region of the rat's brains. This process, known as neurogenesis, was still in evidence a full month after treatment had been initiated.
Neurogenesis was not triggered in response to brain cells being killed through cannabinoid exposure, the researchers add. In fact, HU210 injections did not appear to prompt any loss of neurons in the hippocampus.
Cannabinoid use appeared to boost mood, as well: According to the scientists, behavioral tests suggest that long-term treatment reduced the rodent's anxiety- and depression-linked behaviors.
For example, one month post-treatment, treated rats deprived of food for 48 hours were quicker than similarly deprived, non-treated rats to begin eating food when it was finally offered to them in an unfamiliar environment.
The researchers believe treated rats may have been less anxious in the manner they handled this novel situation. They stress the results were not related to cannabinoids' appetite-stimulating effects, since the treated rats' eating behavior was similar to that of untreated rats when they were offered food in a familiar setting.
Treated rats also responded in a less anxious manner to swimming and climbing tests, and displayed shorter periods of immobility compared with untreated rats. The latter finding was interpreted to mean that HU210 had an antidepressant effect on rats receiving the cannabinoid over the longer term.
However, while long-term administration of higher doses worked to reduce anxiety and depression, lower doses did not appear to have the same effect, the researchers added.
Zhang and his associates credit cannabinoid-linked neurogenesis with the apparent mood shifts seen in the animals.
The hippocampus area of the brain where the neuronal growth occurred is key to the regulation of stress and other mood disorders, Zhang's team point out. This region is also important to the control of cognitive processes such as learning and memory.
Among the common addictive drugs, marijuana alone appears able to promote neurogenesis when used over time and in the right dosage, the researchers say. In contrast, prior research has demonstrated that chronic administration of cocaine, opiates, alcohol and nicotine inhibits brain cell growth.
"If our results can be confirmed in humans, we should anticipate the chronic use of marijuana as a medical treatment for anxiety and depression," Zhang said.
However, he cautioned that "this treatment is not the same as smoking marijuana. Whether smoking marijuana can produce the same effect, we just don't know."
Dr. Perry G. Fine, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine Pain Research Center, said more than enough data has already been gathered to confirm medical marijuana's potential benefits.
"It's great that there's new science, but to me this is no longer an epiphany," he said. "It's just proving what's been long-suspected. We're behind the curve with the cannabinoids largely because of the stigma of marijuana going years and years back."
"I think most people with clinical expertise in the area of palliative medicine know that if patients had access to all the tools we currently have, we could certainly do a whole lot better to help people live with multiple chronic diseases," he added. "The social policies are way behind our technology, and that's where we need some catching up."
"MJ was legal before the 1930s, before they passed racist laws from fears of black jazz musicians. Nice to know you support racist laws. You're the radical here."
*THEY* feared Black jazz musicians??? Who are *They*?
Then when MJ became illegal, *THEY* no longer feared Black jazz musicians? Those who support anti-drug laws are racists? Are you suggesting that anti-drug laws are racist laws?
Nice to know you have absolutely no sense of logic and are totally irrational because your mind is so constipated with delusions of racism. I am NOT dismissing racism existed in the 1930's. I am dismissing your idiotic comments as ad hominem nuisance.
"...porque no tiene marijuana por fumar." (lyric excerpt)
Ah, you immortal Black traditional (New Orleans) jazz musicians of the 1930's: Fats Waller, Jellyroll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Lil Armstrong, Kid Ory, Louis Armstrong, et al, God Bless you all.
Probably due to the fact that they are only injecting a single compound instead of seeing the total effects of what the inhalation of marijuana smoke causes.
Hmm, coughing up nice sized chunks of tar during the morning shower and being distracted during events, I'm not going back to that just to get that single compound they used.
Be a little more creative in your interpretation of my ID.
I wouldn't cross the street to piss on Bill Clinton if he were on fire.
Wait a minute....Yes I would!
It is known that Louis Armstrong admitted to smoking pot daily.
"I have no reason to lie."
I've heard that one before!
***Rudder got "that one" from "Denials for Dummies."
I think the main push for criminalization of weed is coming from the alcohol industry. If Marijuana was legalized, the sales of alcohol products would nosedive .
"La cucaracha, la cucaracha,
ya no puede caminar.
Porque no tiene, porque le falta,
marijuana que fumar."
It is known that Louis Armstrong admitted to smoking pot daily.
THANKS! I couldn't remember the verse. Humm..."que fumar" not "por fumar." Hummm...
I don't condemn anyone, least of all Louis Armstrong, for smoking pot. THAT is not the point of my issue with drug use. BTW, "it is known" by whom?
"thank God I have Bach for profundity and Botticelli for beauty"
Both very good - you might like the Yes "Fragile" album, too
***To use a jazz term, I am a "moldy fig" - I don't listen to contemporary music. Well, except for Native American Flute and some New Age. Not too long ago there was a great all-woman group, playing REAL instruments with REAL musicality - cellos, violins, really original - the Hundred Maniacs??? I loved their music. BUT, on your recommendation, I'll check out the Yes "Fragile" album. Thanks.
"It's a freedom agenda."
Yep, and that Crack House is Freedom Hall.
"Yeah, just think how much smarter Carl Sagan would have been."
I don't think Carl Sagan made any great contributions to astrophysics. He is widely known because he was a media figure.
***Carl Sagan was a presenter. PR for the Cosmos.
"I am a "moldy fig""
That Yes album is a bit moldy too - about 35 years old.
"And you know this first hand?"
Yes, by clinical observation.
BTW, "it is known" by whom?
Here's an excerpt, this one not by Armstrong, but by Laurence Bergreen, author of "Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life," published by Broadway Books.
IMON: I do have to ask you about a devotion in the life of Louis Armstrong, marijuana? I guess from a fairly early age he probably had it every day of his life. He believed in it.
BERGREEN: Yes, he did. This is one of the more difficult things about him to understand. He always -- often said that he was old enough to remember when booze was illegal and pot was legal because of course he came of age in the Prohibition era in the 1920s. And the idea was -- and he was not wholly mistaken at that time -- that it was healthy. Well, it was healthier than toxic moonshine, which was making other jazz musicians sick and even killing them. And he felt that it relaxed him a lot. So even though he got into trouble with the law a few years later for possession of marijuana, he continued to use it in very heavy quantities, you know, three cigar-sized joints a day, at least, throughout his life. Now, this did have a long-term harmful effect. I think if you talk to a doctor, they'll tell you that that amount of heavy, chronic marijuana use will have a bad effect on your lungs, for starters, and Louis did indeed suffer lung problems in his last -- later years, and couldn't blow for a long period as a result.
I would wager in modern lingo, "three cigar-sized joints" would be considered "blunts". He was also apparently arrested for possession in 1930. You'll probably find an interview where he talks about it himself. I recall reading an interview with him, but haven't located it yet.
Kary Mullis, Noble Prize in Chemistry for the Polymerase Chain Reaction.
Known for his fondness of recreational chemicals.
***The protocol is to cite or quote. "Known for..." is just hearsay and not credible. Maybe its just gossip, you know, like "mad scientists". I am well aware that outstanding, successful and talented people smoke MJ. That is not my issue.
President Hillary Clinton will create your Freedom Hall. After a couple of months, you'll be wishing you could find some crack. Or weed, whatever. Enjoy your chains.
PS, is 'purpleland' a mixture of blue and red lands? Some advice: get out of blueville pronto! Statist communitarians are high on their list. Only blue-blooded communists need apply.
Never miss a chance to piss on Bill Clinton. Especially on his head.
I guess you didn't read the article.
The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 pretty much started the road to illegality.It was passed because Dupont needed a market for it's new synthetic fiber known as Nylon.
They had to "remove" the competition>>>Hemp fiber.
They did that buy spending lots of cash on Congress Critters who whipped up hysteria about blacks smoking it and raping white girls.
Read The Emperor wears no clothes for some historical perspective.
Or for some humor try the US Patent Office Patent for One Hitter Dugout Click on the pictures link for some good pics
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