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   From: the_gowch@yahoo.com   
      
   Marijuana Compound Spurs Brain Cell Growth   
      
   By Alan Mozes   
   HealthDay Reporter   
      
   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."   
   				===   
      
   		* There's  no indication in the above whether the   
   		statement that marijuana is an "addictive" substance   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)