Alzheimer's Disease is the 6th leading cause of death among Americans and it affects over 20 million people. Finding a cure has been impossible for scientists, as they have only found a way to slow the disease down. It is imperative that a cure be found so people and loved ones will not have to go through this debilitating disease.
In brief, Alzheimer's is a disease that destroys memory and other cognitive functions. In the brain neural cells die and in turn the brain starts to loose tissue mass. Plaques are also built up in the Alzheimer brain. Proteins called beta-amyloids are a prime component of these plaques because they are sticky and tend to aggregate, or collect together. These aggregates surround the nerve cell and are hypothesized to be the main reason for the neural cell death.
Recently, studies have shown a molecular connection that cannabinoids, more specifically THC, to have therapeutic benefits for Alzheimer's Disease. Before the study by scientists at the The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, THC was only tested to have effects downstream as signaling molecules in the pathology of the disease and not correlated to have any affect on the beta-amyloids. The pathology of Alzheimer's has been extensively studied and it shows that the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme acts as a chaperone in forming amyloid fibers in the brain and forms stable complexes with beta-amyloid at sites called peripheral anionic binding sites (PAS). Since there are already medicines that are out there that work on the inhibition of the AChE active site, it was hypothesized that THC, with its fused tricyclic structure, could bind to the PAS of AChE and prevent AChE-promoted beta-amyloid aggregation.
From this study it was shown that THC competitively inhibits the AChE within mice, which diminishes aggregate formation. This was noteworthy because at a molecular level the THC molecule actually played a role in impacting the disease pathology and it is shown to be a better competitor than the already marketed drugs at half the concentration. In the future THC could be a therapy that not only treats the symptoms of Alzheimer's but also the progression of this debilitating disease.
What are your thoughts on using THC as an therapy for Alzheimer's? Do you think that the the drug's strong affinity for the cannabinoid receptors in our body will be costly to the therapeutic effects that this drug promises?
For further reading on this study and how the scientists came to the conclusion: http://pubs.acs.org.ezproxy.shsu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1021/mp060066m
Kari-
ReplyDeleteI think this article is very intriguing considering the increased use of medical THC. The result that I found to be most supportive of this therapy is that THC had a greater inhibition of aggregation than other inhibitors. As you mentioned in your post, beta-amyloids are a significant contributing factor to the formation of plaque in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s. Therefore, if THC is able to inhibit the formation of one of the main components in the plaque, this factor of the disease can possibly be hindered. It would be interesting to see how human samples, rather than mouse samples, react to this type of therapy.
In addition, what I found to be interesting was how the authors compared the organic structure of THC to other compounds suspected of preventing AChE-promoted beta-amyloid aggregation. It makes me wonder if this research group or others have considered other cannabinoids (such as cannabidiol or cannabivarin) that have similar structures to THC. Using a different cannabinoid with similar physical and structural properties could eliminate the issue of psycho activity associated with THC.
Studies should definitely be conducted to investigate the potential long term effects THC could have on the body. However, I think this is a step in the right direction. Alzheimer’s is affecting millions of people, which stresses the importance for advancements in treatment. THC should be strongly considered as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s and hopefully more research will be done on the subject.
ReplyDeleteVery concise summary of a primary source!
ReplyDeleteQuick note...is there anyway that you can make sure that you include the date with each post? Because grading is going to be very hard if you don't.