A new University of British Columbia study suggests the research effort now devoted to medical marijuana as therapeutic treatment for cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s may be better directed elsewhere.
Scientists had hoped to confirm previous studies that pointed to a possible use for medical marijuana in treating Alzheimer’s disease, according to UBC psychiatry professor Dr. Weihong Song, who led the study.
“But we didn’t see any benefit at all. Instead, our study pointed to some detrimental effects.”
Previous studies showed that HU210, a synthetic form of the compounds found in marijuana, reduced the toxicity of plaques and promoted the growth of new neurons in rats carrying amyloid protein, the toxin that forms plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s victims.
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But the new UBC/Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute study used mice carrying the human genetic mutations that cause Alzheimer’s, as they’re widely considered a “more accurate” model for the disease’s behaviour in people.
Over several weeks, some of the Alzheimer’s-afflicted mice got varying doses of HU210, which is 100 to 800 times more potent than the marijuana compounds.
The animals’ memory was then tested, and it was found that the mice treated with HU210 did no better than untreated mice, with those given low doses of HU210 performing the worst.
“Fewer brain cells”
The UBC/VCH team also found HU210-treated mice had just as much plaque formation and the same density of neurons as the control group. As well, the group given higher doses “actually had fewer brain cells,” UBC said in a release Monday.
Song’s findings, recently published in the journal Current Alzheimer Research, could “lower expectations” about marijuana’s benefits against such diseases, and may help redirect future research to “more promising” therapeutics, UBC said.
“Our study shows that HU210 has no biological or behavioural effect on the established Alzheimer’s disease model,” Song said in UBC’s release. “More studies should be done before we place much hope in marijuana’s benefits for Alzheimer’s patients.”
Health Canada currently grants access to marijuana for medical use to people suffering from “grave and debilitating” illnesses, to treat pain from severe arthritis, pain or spasms from multiple sclerosis or spinal cord damage, seizures from epilepsy or pain, anorexia and nausea due to conditions such as cancer or AIDS.
People with debilitating symptoms from other medical conditions can apply for authorization to possess dried marihuana for medical purposes, if a specialist confirms the diagnosis and that conventional treatments have failed or are judged “inappropriate” to relieve symptoms.
People authorized to possess dried marijuana for medical reasons can apply for a personal-use production license, or for a designated-person production license to have someone else grow the crop for that person.
Other than those two options, Saskatoon-based pharmaceutical firm Prairie Plant Systems (PPS) is the only government-approved supplier.
