Marijuana with a side of ibuprofen: Buzz-killing Rx for Alzheimer's?
As a drug, marijuana has certain effects and, depending on why you're taking it, some side effects. And not everyone wants the whole package. New research finds that for patients who consider weed's buzz an unwanted side effect, the answer might be as simple as taking an ibuprofen with their tetrahydrocannibinol (or THC).
A study published Thursday in the journal Cell both demonstrates and explains why common anti-inflammatory drugs, including ibuprofen and the prescription analgesics indomethacin and celecoxib (marketed as Celebrex), appear to kill marijuana's buzz and suppress its negative effects on cognition. In so doing, the research may clear the way for marijuana to play a growing role in treating Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.
If you want to get high, weed's ability to mellow you out is the desired effect. But with regular use, marijuana stunts the growth of the tendrils that lash brain cells together and impairs memory and cognitive processing speed. That package of effect-and-side-effect appears to be inseparable.
But marijuana also has a not-so-widely known effect: it calms inflammation in the brain — a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's dementia, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. The problem is that for patients who might benefit from marijuana's inflammation-dampening effect, both the high and its downstream impact on brain cells and memory are distinctly unhelpful.
That package of effect-and-side-effect, it turns out, can be separated, and the unwanted side effect can be suppressed by inhibiting the induction of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a complex neurochemical process usually set off by inflammation. To their surprise, the researchers found that the THC in marijuana actually increases the COX-2 process — a finding that would suggest it has both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects on the brain.
Add a COX-2 inhibitor to the mix — or even a non-selective COX inhibitor such as ibuprofen — and the anti-inflammatory effects of THC remain. The "buzz," the lethargy and negative cognitive effects of long-term use, however, are extinguished.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-marijuana-ibuprofen-alzheimers-buzzkill-20131121,0,7844486.story#ixzz2lUyYmQgC
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Abstract
Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia among the elderly, and with the ever-increasing size of this population, cases of Alzheimer's disease are expected to triple over the next 50 years. Consequently, the development of treatments that slow or halt the disease progression have become imperative to both improve the quality of life for patients as well as reduce the health care costs attributable to Alzheimer's disease. Here, we demonstrate that the active component of marijuana, ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), competitively inhibits the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) as well as prevents AChE-induced amyloid ?-peptide (A?
aggregation, the key pathological marker of Alzheimer's disease. Computational modeling of the THC-AChE interaction revealed that THC binds in the peripheral anionic site of AChE, the critical region involved in amyloidgenesis. Compared to currently approved drugs prescribed for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, THC is a considerably superior inhibitor of A? aggregation, and this study provides a previously unrecognized molecular mechanism through which cannabinoid molecules may directly impact the progression of this debilitating disease.
Keywords: Cannabinoids, Alzheimer's disease, Acetylcholinesterase
