Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Regulation of brain molecule could help marijuana addicts

Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 Dec, 2014 12:51 PM
    A natural molecule that activates cannabinoid receptors in the brain could relieve mood and anxiety disorders and enable some people to quit using marijuana, a promising research by an Indian-origin scientist says.
     
    Cannabinoid receptors are normally activated by compounds in the brain called endocannabinoids, the most abundant of which is 2-AG.
     
    They are also "turned on" by an active ingredient of marijuana.
     
    For the study, principal investigator Sachin Patel and his colleagues from the Vanderbilt University in the US developed a genetically-modified mouse with impaired ability to produce 2-AG in the brain.
     
    The mice exhibited anxiety-like behaviour and female mice also displayed behaviour suggestive of depression.
     
    When an enzyme that normally breaks down 2-AG was blocked, and the supply of the endocannabinoid was restored to normal levels, these behaviour patterns were reversed.
     
    "If further research confirms that some people who are anxious and depressed have low levels of 2-AG, this method of normalising 2-AG deficiency could represent a viable therapeutic strategy for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders," Patel, a professor of psychiatry, molecular physiology and biophysics, said.
     
    Relief from tension and anxiety is the most common reason cited for chronic marijuana use.
     
    "Thus, restoring depleted levels of 2-AG also could be a way to help people using marijuana," Patel added.
     
    The paper appeared online in the journal Cell Reports.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Feeling demoralised bad for your heart

    Feeling demoralised bad for your heart
    Vital exhaustion, the combination of fatigue, increased irritability, and feeling demoralised, may raise a healthy man or woman's risk of first-time cardiovascular...

    Feeling demoralised bad for your heart

    Young women smokers at chronic period pain risk

    Young women smokers at chronic period pain risk
    Women who take up smoking during their teenage years run a significantly heightened risk of developing chronic severe period pain, finds new research....

    Young women smokers at chronic period pain risk

    Lowering cholesterol with drugs good for heart: Study

    Lowering cholesterol with drugs good for heart: Study
    A popular but controversial cholesterol drug called Ezetimibe has been found to lower the number of cardiovascular events by 6.4 percent when administered...

    Lowering cholesterol with drugs good for heart: Study

    Common antibacterial in soap may harm liver

    Common antibacterial in soap may harm liver
    Long-term exposure to triclosan, found in soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and many other household items, may cause liver fibrosis and cancer, an alarming study suggests....

    Common antibacterial in soap may harm liver

    A new smartphone that can print selfies in seconds

    A new smartphone that can print selfies in seconds
    A French company has developed a brand new smartphone case that can print selfies from the phone itself in less than a minute....

    A new smartphone that can print selfies in seconds

    Menthol and nicotine harmful for lungs: Study

    Menthol and nicotine harmful for lungs: Study
    Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have found that menthol acts in combination with nicotine to desensitise receptors in lungs' ...

    Menthol and nicotine harmful for lungs: Study