With more and more states choosing to legalize cannabis, there has been a significant surge in marijuana research. Several studies have found that cannabis can be effective at alleviating conditions such as inflammation, anxiety disorders and drug addiction. Specifically, marijuana’s possible mental health benefits have drawn in plenty of eager scientists.
Most of this research has involved delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component in cannabis, and cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid that’s thought to have plenty of medical potential. However, some researchers have been curious whether lesser-known cannabinoids such as cannabinol can have similar health benefits.
Early studies have shown that one cannabinol, CBN, may have neuroprotective properties that allow it to ward off neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and protect brain cells against the ravages of aging. Zhibin Liang, a Glenn Postdoctoral fellow at the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory and the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research at Salk Institute for Biological Studies recently discussed cannabis’ potential to treat aging and Alzheimer’s related symptoms.
Speaking at the Being Patient’s LiveTalk series, he said that medical cannabis is an emerging research field, with the bulk of research being done on THC and CBD. He states that his team chose to research CBN’s neuroprotective abilities because they wanted to focus on a minor, nonpsychoactive phytocannabinoid.
Liang and his team targeted the mitochondria in brain cells because they tend to become inefficient as people age and cause oxidative stress in the brain cells. This leads to the accumulation of oxidized proteins in the aging brain cells and can cause neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and Huntington’s disease.
The researchers found that cannabinol interacts with mitochondria in the brain cells, helping them maintain their function and effectiveness. This in turn limits mitochondria dysfunction, reduces the levels of oxidative stress in the brain cells and increases the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in brain cells without affecting the CB1 and CB2 receptors in the brain. Low ATP production in the brain cells is associated with increased oxidative stress and is a major factor in the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
This research shows that cannabinol does have the potential to protect the brain against the effects of aging and keep diseases such as Alzheimer’s at bay without any psychoactive effects. Liang’s team is now moving on to preclinical models using mice models of aging and Alzheimer’s to see if they can reproduce CBN’s neuroprotective effects in an animal model.
As more is discovered about the therapeutic potential of this plant, a growing number of people are likely to become interested in growing their own cannabis using some of the latest technologies available such as the Grow Pods being sold by Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) so that end users can be sure that they are consuming medical cannabis of the highest possible quality.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/ACTX
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