Low Doses of THC (Cannabis) Can Halt Brain Damage, Study Suggests

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Low Doses of THC (Cannabis) Can Halt Brain Damage, Study Suggests

May 30, 2013 — hough marijuana is a well-known recreational drug,
extensive scientific research has been conducted on the therapeutic
properties of marijuana in the last decade. Medical cannabis is often
used by sufferers of chronic ailments, including cancer and post-
traumatic stress disorder, to combat pain, insomnia, lack of appetite,
and other symptoms.

Now Prof. Yosef Sarne of Tel Aviv University's Adelson Center for the
Biology of Addictive Diseases at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine says
that the drug has neuroprotective qualities as well. He has found that
extremely low doses of THC -- the psychoactive component of marijuana
-- protects the brain from long-term cognitive damage in the wake of
injury from hypoxia (lack of oxygen), seizures, or toxic drugs. Brain
damage can have consequences ranging from mild cognitive deficits to
severe neurological damage.

Previous studies focused on injecting high doses of THC within a very
short time frame -- approximately 30 minutes -- before or after
injury. Prof. Sarne's current research, published in the journals
Behavioural Brain Research and Experimental Brain Research,
demonstrates that even extremely low doses of THC -- around 1,000 to
10,000 times less than that in a conventional marijuana cigarette --
administered over a wide window of 1 to 7 days before or 1 to 3 days
after injury can jumpstart biochemical processes which protect brain
cells and preserve cognitive function over time.

This treatment, especially in light of the long time frame for
administration and the low dosage, could be applicable to many cases
of brain injury and be safer over time, Prof. Sarne says.

Conditioning the brain

While performing experiments on the biology of cannabis, Prof. Sarne
and his fellow researchers discovered that low doses of the drug had a
big impact on cell signalling, preventing cell death and promoting
growth factors. This finding led to a series of experiments designed
to test the neuroprotective ability of THC in response to various
brain injuries.

In the lab, the researchers injected mice with a single low dose of
THC either before or after exposing them to brain trauma. A control
group of mice sustained brain injury but did not receive the THC
treatment. When the mice were examined 3 to 7 weeks after initial
injury, recipients of the THC treatment performed better in behavioral
tests measuring learning and memory. Additionally, biochemical studies
showed heightened amounts of neuroprotective chemicals in the
treatment group compared to the control group.

The use of THC can prevent long-term cognitive damage that results
from brain injury, the researchers conclude. One explanation for this
effect is pre- and post-conditioning, whereby the drug causes minute
damage to the brain to build resistance and trigger protective
measures in the face of much more severe injury, explains Prof. Sarne.
The low dosage of THC is crucial to initiating this process without
causing too much initial damage.

Preventative and long-term use

According to Prof. Sarne, there are several practical benefits to this
treatment plan. Due to the long therapeutic time window, this
treatment can be used not only to treat injury after the fact, but
also to prevent injury that might occur in the future. For example,
cardiopulmonary heart-lung machines used in open heart surgery carry
the risk of interrupting the blood supply to the brain, and the drug
can be delivered beforehand as a preventive measure. In addition, the
low dosage makes it safe for regular use in patients at constant risk
of brain injury, such as epileptics or people at a high risk of heart
attack.

Prof. Sarne is now working in collaboration with Prof. Edith
Hochhauser of the Rabin Medical Center to test the ability of low
doses of THC to prevent damage to the heart. Preliminary results
indicate that they will find the same protective phenomenon in
relation to cardiac ischemia, in which the heart muscle receives
insufficient blood flow.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American
Friends of Tel Aviv University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further
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