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Marijuana-like Drug Fights Alzheimer’s

Posted on: Thursday, 20 November 2008, 09:07 CST

A new study makes the case for an illegal drug by showcasing its potential protective effects against Alzheimer’s disease.

New research suggests a legal drug similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive substance in marijuana, may help prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The synthetic drug WIN-55212-2 (WIN) was shown to reduce brain inflammation and encourage the formation of new brain cells in rats.

WIN is not used in humans yet because of its tendency to induce psychoactive effects, but researchers gave rats a low, constant dose of the drug for three weeks. In memory tests that followed the treatment, rats treated with WIN did better than control rats in the learning and remembering process.

The drug works by activating three different proteins in the brain’s endocannabinoid system, which is partly responsible for memory.

“The end goal is not to recommend the use of THC in humans to reduce Alzheimer’s,” Yannick Marchalant, study coauthor and research assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University, was quoted as saying. “We need to find exactly which receptors are most crucial, and ideally lead to the development of drugs that specifically activate those receptors. We hope a compound can be found that can target both inflammation and neurogenesis, which would be the most efficient way to produce the best effects.”

SOURCE: Presented at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Nov. 15-19, 2008, Washington, D.C.

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On the Net:

• Ohio State University
• Society for Neuroscience

Source: Ivanhoe

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