Cannabis ingredient can cure depression, says new study

Cannabis ingredient can cure depression, says new study

A drug modelled on an active ingredient in marijuana can be a cure for depression, believes scientists, who have carried out research on the synthetic product. The drug, named HU210, has been found to be effective in controlling anxious and depressive behaviour in rats. While it is chemically similar to an ingredient in marijuana and activates the cannabinoid receptors in the brain, it is not pot, say the researchers, as pot is a mix of several chemicals.

OTTAWA: A drug modelled on an active ingredient in marijuana can be a cure for depression, believes scientists, who have carried out research on the synthetic product. The drug, named HU210, has been found to be effective in controlling anxious and depressive behaviour in rats.

While it is chemically similar to an ingredient in marijuana and activates the cannabinoid receptors in the brain, it is not pot, say the researchers, as pot is a mix of several chemicals.

The research work was conducted at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, and did not cover humans. The researchers, reporting their findings in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, said anxious and depressed behavior in rats reduced after the drug was administered. Importantly, they found new brain cells developing in the hippocampus of the rats after the drug's chronic use. Hippocampus is the part of brain controlling motivation, emotion and memory formation.

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The team writes that cannabinoids are found to be the only illicit drug that can promote the creation of new hippocampal brain cells and other drugs like opiates, alcohol, nicotine and cocaine do not have this property. The scientists liken the effect of the drug to that of antidepressant drug Prozac, which stimulates nerve growth in the hippocampus.

Earlier studies on cannabis have always brought out the risks in its use, like heightened degree of psychosis and an increased risk of lung cancer. The present study also highlights that regular cannabis users are known to suffer acute memory impairment and dependency and withdrawal symptoms.

The researchers point out that there could be some significance to the dosage. Regular injections of high doses of HU210 were associated with anti-anxiety and anti-depressive effects. Parallel research elsewhere has shown that cannabinoids relieve symptoms of multiple sclerosis and pain in humans. The drug is naturally present in human body and it is also found in cannabis.

There has been a recent discovery that the hippocampus can generate neurons throughout the lifespan of mammals, including humans.

Professor Robin Murray of the Institute of Psychiatry questioned whether the properties of the drug could be applicable to humans. He said the researchers have no data on humans and supposed animals' models of anxiety and depression that the researchers have used in rats do not have much in common with the human conditions.