cannabisnews.com: New Class Of Chemicals Found To Use Marijuana New Class Of Chemicals Found To Use Marijuana Posted by FoM on May 04, 2000 at 15:03:01 PT Source: University Of California, Irvine Source: ScienceDaily Magazine Researchers at UC Irvine's College of Medicine have developed a chemical that could form the basis of a new class of drugs to treat a number of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The chemical, which has been tested on rats, affects brain cells that use chemicals similar to marijuana to counteract the actions of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Dopamine has been implicated in schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, Tourette's syndrome and many other psychiatric disorders. The researchers' findings appear in the May issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. Daniele Piomelli, professor of pharmacology, led a team that found that a chemical called AM404 reversed the normal inactivation of a naturally occurring chemical in the brain called anandamide, which is related to marijuana's active ingredient and opposes the actions of dopamine. By reversing the inactivation of anandamide, AM404 is able to gently curb the exaggerated movements and other disorders caused by too much dopamine activity in nerve cells. "We were excited to find this action of AM404 in the brain. It's very encouraging to see it work in a very subtle and effective way to counteract the effects of too much dopamine-induced activity," said Piomelli. "With further testing, we hope this eventually will result in new treatments that don't have the side effects of many current psychiatric drugs." Piomelli and his colleagues found that AM404 targeted nerves that produced unusually high levels of dopamine and caused exaggerated movements and other problems in rats. Instead of directly encouraging the production of dopamine-curbing anandamide, AM404 was found to discourage the disintegration of existing anandamide. More anandamide was then available to bind to receptors on nerve cells and reduce the stimulation of nerve cells by dopamine. If further research proves successful, the chemical could be used to treat schizophrenia, Tourette's, Parkinson's, autism and attention-deficit disorder, all of which are currently treated by drugs that attack the dopamine system in the brain. Piomelli warns that their research on cannabinoid receptors has shown consistently that smoking marijuana may actually make these disorders worse. "Although AM404 helps to manipulate cannabinoid receptors, we think that using marijuana directly creates too severe a reaction and can create adverse reactions among people suffering from these diseases," he said. The researchers, who have been working for several years on detailing the cannabinoid nerve cell system in the brain, are now looking at how AM404 selects the nerve cells it affects in the brain. "AM404's selection of nerve cells may mean that treatments may not have the side effects of many current drugs, which aren't as selective about the nerve cells they impact," Piomelli said. "Once we see how the drug actually works in the brain, we'll have a better idea of what disorders it may be most effective at treating. Using brain scans and analyzing the uptake of AM404 in rats and other animals, we can have a better idea of where it's working." Piomelli's colleagues in this study were Massimo Beltramo and Andrea Giuffrida at UCI; Fernando Rodriguez de Fonseca, Miguel A. Gorriti and Miguel Navarro at the Complutense University, Madrid, Spain, and Antonio Calignano, Gerasimos Grammatikopoulos and Antonio G. Sadile at the University of Naples, Italy. The researchers' work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Editor's Note: The original news release can be found at http://www.communications.uci.edu/00releases/061ap00.html Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University Of California, Irvine for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to quote from any part of this story, please credit University Of California, Irvine as the original source. You may also wish to include the following link in any citation: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/05/000503183344.htmUniversity of California, Irvinehttp://www.uci.edu/Web Posted: May 4, 2000Email: editor sciencedaily.comIrvine, Calif., May 1, 2000 Copyright © 1995-2000 ScienceDaily Magazine Related Article:Chemical Boosts Marijuana-Like Substance in Brainhttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5586.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Articles & Archives:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtmlhttp://google.com/search?q=cannabisnews+medicalhttp://alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/search?type=all&query=cannabisnews+medical Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by dddd on May 06, 2000 at 03:00:40 PT finally Oh!...How wonderful!..They are finally on the virge of developing a promising new fake drug,that can do some of the things that the dreaded Marijuana can do. This is good material for;"Tales From The Beyond".....dDdD [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by MMMM on May 05, 2000 at 09:55:42 PT Actually.... These drug company news reports aren't all bad. They do confirm the fact that weed is MEDICINAL. I'd venture to guess that more people who are ill may become desperate enough to try marijuana like I did. I'm glad I did, too, but now I'm a criminal in the strictest definition, but I'm also pro-marijuana now. There is a bright side to this mayhem. All it takes is a few people with a particular illness to benefit, and the word will spread. One doctor is delighted with my progress, but another one is horrified. I'll just have to work on educating him. One doctor at a time, one friend at a time.. it'll get passed. If medical marijuana isn't legalized soon, Europe here I come. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by cerebus on May 05, 2000 at 02:14:17 PT 1 second gee guess they have a very vested interest in synthesizing and selling this drug for what 150 a bottle? people sufferning some forms of these disorders already smoke cannabis and report it relieves their symptoms. beware drug companies they cant make a profit if u can grow your own medicine. guarentee that any drug co will say well actually smoking the medicine can be too extreme we must extract subtract spend 3mil in r&d and marketing and spend years in fda approval so that we may charge you and your insurer an arm and a leg.now that said is there any real data on depression disorders and the effects that marijuana has upon those disorders and what difference in usage might have?lets just not let people that make a profit by mj not being legal and accepted medicine do that study. 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