The Endocannabinoid System

Tetrahydrocannibol is a drug that has several effects on the endocannabinoid system of the brain. In this article I shall first explore the normal function of the system and further on go into how tetrahydrocannibol induces its pharmacological effects.

Endocannabinoid System

The endocannabinoid system is defined as a group of neuromodulatory lipids and their receptors in the brain that are concerned in a range of physiological processes such as appetite, pain-sensation, psychomotor behavior, wake/sleep cycles and memory. It processes the psychoactive effects of cannabis.

Figure 1: Events at the neuron terminal ( Health Canada

Date of latest version: February 2013)

There are quite a number of endocannabinoids some examples are endogenous arachidonate-based lipids, anandamide (N-arachidonoylethanolamide, AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) which are the ligands for the cannabinoid receptors. Endocannabinoids are also classified as eicosanoids. There are enzymes that synthesize and degrade the endocannabinoids like monoacylglycerol lipase (Hashimotodani Y, Ohno-Shosaku T, Kano M, 2007: 1211-9). There are cannabinoid receptors known asCB1 and CB2 which are two G protein-coupled receptors are found in the central and peripheral nervous systems which are as well expressed in the brain and immune system (Pertwee RG, 2006 : S13-8).

Endocannabinoid is synthesized and released ‘on demand' in response to pathological as well as physiological stimuli such as neuronal depolarization, this makes its synthesis based on neurotransmission. When the interaction between the transmitter and receptor occurs neurotransmitters can produce a number of effects in the post-synaptic cell, for example excitation resulting in the inhibition or the init...

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... uptake during submaximal exercise but did increase heart rate and the rate-pressure product at rest and during both exercise and recovery’.

Other interesting factors about THC

THC and cancer- Tetrahydrocannabinol is believed to reduce side effects of chemotherapy like nausea and vomiting, in people with cancer. I also increase their appetite to eat. It does this by inhibiting cell cycle progression in cancer cells through Cdc2 directive. It keeps cells in G2-M phases of the cell cycle by down-regulation of Cdc2 (Caffarel et al., 2006:66). It causes an increase in ceramide synthesis which drives cell synthesis.

To sum up this article, Tetrahydrocannabinol use in its pure form is still a topic widely explored and equally debatable in the present society. Medical experts have even divided on the vote for it to be legalized or not and allowed use in treatments.