Study unveils how cannabis affects brain's feeding center

While it is well known that cannabis can cause the munchies, researchers have now revealed a mechanism in the brain that promotes appetite in a set of animal studies at Washington State University.

The discovery, detailed in the journal Scientific Reports, could pave the way for refined therapeutics to treat appetite disorders faced by cancer patients as well as anorexia and potentially obesity.

After exposing mice to vaporized cannabis sativa, researchers used calcium imaging technology, which is similar to a brain MRI, to determine how their brain cells responded. They observed that cannabis activated a set of cells in the hypothalamus when the rodents anticipated and consumed palatable food that were not activated in unexposed mice.

When the mice are given cannabis, neurons come on that typically are not active. There is something important happening in the hypothalamus after vapor cannabis."

Jon Davis, assistant professor of neuroscience at WSU and corresponding author on the paper

Calcium imaging has been used to study the brain's reactions to food by other researchers, but this is the first known study to use it to understand those features following cannabis exposure.

As part of this research, the researchers also determined that the cannabinoid-1 receptor, a known cannabis target, controlled the activity of a well-known set of "feeding" cells in the hypothalamus, called Agouti Related Protein neurons. With this information, they used a "chemogenetic" technique, which acts like a molecular light switch, to home in on these neurons when animals were exposed to cannabis. When these neurons were turned off, cannabis no longer promoted appetite.

"We now know one of the ways that the brain responds to recreational-type cannabis to promote appetite," said Davis.

This work builds on previous research on cannabis and appetite from Davis' lab, which was among the first to use whole vaporized cannabis plant matter in animal studies instead of injected THC-;in an effort to better mimic how cannabis is used by humans. In the previous work, the researchers identified genetic changes in the hypothalamus in response to cannabis, so in this study, Davis and his colleagues focused on that area.

The current research received support from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as by funds provided by the state of Washington Initiative Measure No. 171.

Source:
Journal reference:

Wheeler, E. C., et al. (2023). Cannabis Sativa targets mediobasal hypothalamic neurons to stimulate appetite. Scientific Reports. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50112-5.

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
Researchers use AI to reveal sex-based differences in glioblastoma prognosis