Interest in the use of medical ganja , or more specifically THC , has grow importantly in recent old age , with enquiry propose it could be used to relieve pain , process muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis , stimulate appetite in genus Cancer patient and even shrink some tumors , to name a few . But then there are the drawbacks : memory problem , anxiety and dependance , which all reduce its oomph as a sanative agent .
Encouragingly , scientists have now begun toreveal the mechanismsbehind these dual core , successfully tease apart the good ones from the bad in the lab . This raise the possibility that in the futurity , researchers may be able to create man-made versions of the drug that add up without many of the negative . The field has been published inPLOS Biology .
THC , the independent psychoactive ingredient in marijuana , acts on the dead body by sticking to receptors of the so - called endocannabinoid arrangement . This collection of molecule and receptors is involved in the regulation of various physiological mental process and tract , include pain perception and appetency . This cognition has run to its realization as a potential sanative agent , but unfortunately its manipulation has been limited because scientists did n’t understand the mechanisms that decouple its various cocksure and negative effects .
To see if they could shed light on this gray expanse , researcher from the University of East Anglia and the University Pompeu Fabra start conducting behavioral study on rodent that they expose to THC , such as bring out their paws to hot plateful and examining their reactions . Using shiner plan to lack one of the serotonin receptors , they found that the pain in the neck - relieving and amnesic effects of THC are self-governing of each other . So while these mutant shiner did n’t lose their memories on THC , the drug still act as a pain - reliever in them .
Interestingly , prior research has prove that the serotonin receptor in question and one of the receptors THC attach to are base together in a mind neighborhood call the hippocampus , where they assist in memory processing . They are also coexpressed in various other area that are known to be demand in wages processing and anxiousness , lead the researchers to believe that some kind of previously unknown fundamental interaction between them could be come about and underlie the observed burden .
To test this out , they made jail cell in a dish produce both receptor , and in agreement with their idea , they found that they came together to shape complex . significantly , they found that these coordination compound are also present and active in areas of the wit demand in memory constipation . fortify with this knowledge , the researchers designed synthetic compounds that prevent the receptor from derive together in mice . Remarkably , these eliminated the memory impairments elicited by THC , but did not reduce its other good effect , such as the power to relieve pain .
“ This research is important because it identifies a way to cut some of what , in aesculapian handling , are usually imagine of as THC ’s unwanted side effects , while maintaining several authoritative welfare include pain diminution , ” cogitation writer Dr. Peter McCormick said in astatement .
“ Patients should not practice cannabis to self - medicine , but I hope that our enquiry will lead to a safe synthetic equivalent weight being usable in the future tense . ”
