October 13, 2005 Source: University of Calgary: http://www.ucalgary.ca/news/oct05/cannabinoids.html International team’s findings on brain cannabinoids published in Science An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, has found a second cannabinoid receptor in the brain. The team’s findings, to be published in the October 14, 2005 edition of the prestigious journal Science, prove for the first time, that there is a CB2 cannabinoid receptor in the brain. The study establishes that this receptor can be targeted to reduce nausea associated with diseases such as diabetes, and treatments for cancer and AIDS. "Scientists have been looking for this receptor in the brain for several years, and no one could find it," says Keith Sharkey, PhD, a gastrointestinal neuroscientist in the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, and principal investigator of the study. "This study proves that we can manipulate the body’s own chemical messengers, endocannabinoids, to control the action of these receptors. We hope that will allow us to not only reduce the side-effects of conventional treatments for cancer, but also design new treatments for a wide variety of conditions involving the brain." Endocannabinoids are chemical messengers, similar to plant-derived cannabinoids, found throughout all of the major systems of the body, and specifically within nerve cells in the brain. "I am delighted to read the findings of Dr. Sharkey’s team, illustrating, for the first time, a functional CB2 receptor in the brain. This paper gives us important and unexpected insights into research we are doing here in Israel on neuroprotection," says Raphael Mechoulam, PhD, professor of medicinal chemistry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, one of the world’s leading cannabinoid scientists. "This discovery has changed the way we think about the flow of information within the brain, and how the brain communicates with other parts of the body." Receptors are "locks" that control the activity of cells in the body. The "keys" for the "locks" are the chemical messengers of the body. Endocannabinoids within the body are the "key" to unlocking cannabinoid receptors. Drugs like cannabis – marijuana - also act at these "locks" because they mimic the body’s own "keys". This study, involving scientists from Canada, the United States, and Italy, uses animal models to prove that it is possible to manipulate the cannabinoid levels in the brain, paving the way for to scientists to develop new drugs targeting the CB2 receptor. "We have discovered a way to harness the body’s own cannabinoids as a potential treatment strategy that may limit the unwanted side-effects of conventional cannabinoid therapies," says Sharkey, a member of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, and the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation at U of C / Calgary Health Region. This study was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institutes of Health, and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. For more information contact: Keith Sharkey, PhD, 403-220-4601, ksharkey@ucalgary.ca __________ Karen Thomas
Media Director
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