Pot and Pain

The pressure for states to legalize Marijuana for medical and recreational use is building. The tax benefits are self evident.

The debate for many centers of "true medical benefits". That's why research on understanding analgesic pathways is so important. Ironically, this study was conducted by my friends at Université de Montréal and Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec Canada: J. Desroches, J.-F. Bouchard, L. Gendron, P. Beaulieu. Involvement of cannabinoid receptors in peripheral and spinal morphine analgesia ☆ Neuroscience, Volume 261, 7 March 2014, Pages 23–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.12.030.

These teams have proven expert is using our Opioid Receptor Antibodies in their pain research. Here's a synopsis:
•Analgesia is the most common feature shared by the cannabinoid and opioid systems.
•The role of the cannabinoid system in the morphine-induced analgesia is uncertain.
•Peripheral and intrathecal morphine analgesia is altered in cnr1KO and cnr2KO mice.
•This attenuation is neither caused by a MOP malfunction nor by its downregulation.

Images: Deletion of the CB1 or CB2 receptors has no effect on the expression of MOP in the spinal cord. Immunofluorescence of spinal MOP revealed that the expression of MOP in laminae I and II of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord did not differ between cnr1WT (A) and cnr1KO (B) mice or between cnr2WT (C) and cnr2KO mice (D).


Observations here further support the existence of interactions between the cannabinoid and opioid systems. The loss of peripheral and spinal morphine analgesia is apparently caused neither by a decrease in MOP spinal expression nor by altered binding properties or G protein coupling of this receptor in cnr1KO and cnr2KO mice. The mechanisms underlying the loss of morphine analgesia are not clear but could include the release of endogenous cannabinoids in structures along the pain pathway or a disrupted endocannabinoid tone.

It is important funding that enables researchers to understand the analgesic pathways of marijuana continues to grow. This research could yield better control of pain with reduced side effects.