Studies Reveal Possible Ways to Tap Into Therapeutic Benefits of Marijuana

SAN DIEGO — Research released today reveals new strategies for treating chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and alcohol abuse by targeting the brain’s cannabinoid system. Targeting cannabinoid receptors — which bind both natural neurotransmitters and the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana — may provide some of the therapeutic benefits of marijuana without the side effects. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2016, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.

Chronic pain affects nearly 50 million American adults and sometimes leads to prescription opioid abuse; opioid abuse led to 19,000 deaths in 2014. Post-traumatic stress disorder, which affects up to 30 percent of war veterans, and alcohol abuse, which results in 2.5 million deaths each year worldwide, also lack promising and safe treatments. Marijuana can help with chronic pain and symptoms associated with PTSD, but it has its own risk of abuse and side effects.

Today’s new findings show that:

• A compound that increases the effects of endocannabinoids — neurotransmitters that bind the same receptor as THC, the active ingredient in marijuana — decreases pain symptoms in mice, suggesting a novel way to target pain with few side effects (Andrea Hohmann, abstract 617.07, see attached summary).
• A drug that boosts the activity of a cannabinoid receptor lessens anxiety and inflammation in mice exposed to repeated stress, hinting at a possible new treatment option for post-traumatic stress disorder (Sabrina Lisboa, abstract 112.08, see attached summary).
• A novel therapeutic compound that increases levels of an endocannabinoid in the brain alleviates chronic pain symptoms in rats, providing hope for a way to reduce reliance on opioids (Jason Clapper, abstract 617.02, see attached summary).

Other recent findings discussed show that:

• Cannabidiol, a compound found in marijuana, decreases alcohol consumption in mice, suggesting a possible new treatment for alcohol abuse disorders (Maria García-Gutiérrez, presentation 77.01, see attached speaker summary).

“Today’s findings reveal a better understanding of the body’s cannabinoid system and how to modulate it,” said press conference moderator Margaret Haney, PhD, of Columbia University, an expert in drug abuse. “There are now a number of ways to target this system and possibly alleviate pain and other diseases without relying on marijuana.”

The research was supported by national funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, as well as other public, private, and philanthropic organizations worldwide. Find out more about the brain’s cannabinoid system at BrainFacts.org.

Read the full press release and study abstracts >>