Have you ever wondered what our world would be like if the answer to solving the mysteries of a severe disease such as cancer or an inflammatory disease was within the components of an illegal drug that most sick patients cannot obtain? Most people often associate a negative response to the word drug anytime they hear it or see it. This is because the only information people have received about this drug is negative. What these people do not realize though is that there are also positive impacts that this drug can have on our people and world. This drug has many different names but is most commonly known as marijuana.
Marijuana is from the hemp plant Cannabis Sativa. There are several components of this plant that are active when this drug is used. The main active chemical is called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC for short. Marijuana is most commonly smoked, resulting in THC getting into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs of our bodies.
Recent studies have increased the concentration of medical interest in new anti-inflammatory therapies. Researchers have begun to test the effects that components of cannabinoids, any of the chemical compounds that are the active principles of marijuana, would have on immune functions. They have found out that these components of cannibinoids, such as THC, can change immune functions and they therefore have the possibility for treating inflammatory diseases.
Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease in which a combination of fatty deposits and inflammation leads to ‘plaques’ that obstruct coronary arteries, and is the primary cause of heart disease and stroke in Western countries. This disease can occur after plaque ruptures, which result in blood clots, and thrombosis (formation of a blood clot). Current treatments for atherosclerosis use medicines that lower plasma cholesterol concentration and that lower blood pressure. These current treatments have proven to have a positive effect on atherosclerosis patients but atherosclerosis is still the number one cause of heart disease and stroke in Western countries. Immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory effects of cannabinoids have been reported lately and these newer therapies are of great interest to the medical world. Researchers specifically experimented the effects that THC would have on this particular inflammatory disease.
Figure 1 –Representative cryosections showing CB2 receptor expression (pink staining) in human coronary atherosclerotic lesion.
Based on research from other successful treatments using cannibinoids, receptors for THC were identified on several types of immune cells. There are two different receptors, CB1 and CB2, but the CB2 receptor is found primarily on cells of the immune system. The CB2 receptor is what makes the positive effects of cannabinoids on immune cells possible. Researchers found that CB2 receptors were in fact in atherosclerotic plaques of human and mouse diseased arteries, but there were no CB2 receptors observed in non-diseased arteries. CB2 receptors are shown by macrophages (white blood cells that take in foreign material) and T lymphocytes (white blood cells that play a role in cell-mediated immunity) within atherosclerotic lesions. This suggests that cannabinoid elements may be a valuable, positive feature to the treatment of atherosclerosis.
Figure 2—The cannabinoid receptor CB2 is expressed on macrophages and T lymphocytes within plaques.
Researchers examined the effects of THC on rodents who have advanced atherosclerosis. The mice were given a high-cholesterol diet for five weeks, and then THC was given to them orally for the next 6 weeks. The dose of THC given to the mice was 1 mg kg -1. It was observed that after the high-cholesterol diet, atherosclerotic lesions were visible within the mice. After the 11-weeks of research, the THC- treated mice showed a major decrease of the disease progression. To make sure the anti-atherosclerotic effect of THC was made possible through the CB2 receptor, the researchers performed more experiments using THC without the presence of the CB2 receptor. Without a CB2 receptor, the atherosclerotic lesions could not be abolished.
In conclusion, after this particular experiment THC was found to have the potential to treat atherosclerosis. This can only mean that cannabinoids should be considered a medicine or cure for this particular disease. The only drawback is that this drug is illegal in several places and most people still have a negative opinion of marijuana. If people start to realize the potential marijuana has to be a medicine, then hopefully more studies will be done to treat other severe diseases. Hopefully soon, the world will realize that this drug is in fact, a medicine.
Works Cited:
Steffens, Sabine, and Niels R. Veillard, et al. “Low dose oral cannibinoid therapy reduces progression of atherosclerosis in mice.” Nature 434 (2005): 782-786. Print.
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