A collaborative study between the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) revealed that chronic marijuana smoking affects the brain chemistry. According to the NIDA, marijuana or cannabis is the mostly used illegal drug in America. As per the study, it was found that there was a decrease in the number of the cannabinoid receptors that are important for mental and physical functions like movement coordination, concentration, pleasure, memory, pain tolerance and appetite.
As a part of the study, 30 chronic daily cannabis smokers were monitored for approximately four weeks. These people were subjected to positron emission tomography (PET) to find the changes in the physiological processes in the body. A radioligand, 18F-FMPEP-d2 is a combination of radioactive fluorine isotope and a neurotransmitter analog which binds with CB1 brain receptors. It was found that the number of cannabis receptors in the cannabis smokers decreased about 20 percent when compared to healthy control subjects with limited exposure to cannabis during their lifetime.
When 14 of the 30 subjects were re-scanned after one month of abstinence, there was an increase in the receptor activity in the areas which were deficient at the beginning of the study. It indicates that the chronic cannabis smoking causes down regulation of CB1 receptors and the damage is reversible with abstinence. The information resulted from the study was found to be useful for the development of novel treatments for cannabis abuse. It also revealed that the decreased receptors in people who abuse cannabis return to normal when they stop smoking the drug.
As a part of the study, 30 chronic daily cannabis smokers were monitored for approximately four weeks. These people were subjected to positron emission tomography (PET) to find the changes in the physiological processes in the body. A radioligand, 18F-FMPEP-d2 is a combination of radioactive fluorine isotope and a neurotransmitter analog which binds with CB1 brain receptors. It was found that the number of cannabis receptors in the cannabis smokers decreased about 20 percent when compared to healthy control subjects with limited exposure to cannabis during their lifetime.
When 14 of the 30 subjects were re-scanned after one month of abstinence, there was an increase in the receptor activity in the areas which were deficient at the beginning of the study. It indicates that the chronic cannabis smoking causes down regulation of CB1 receptors and the damage is reversible with abstinence. The information resulted from the study was found to be useful for the development of novel treatments for cannabis abuse. It also revealed that the decreased receptors in people who abuse cannabis return to normal when they stop smoking the drug.
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