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（Science News －－编译 ）大麻复合物对血管治疗有
6-Apr-2005
大麻复合物对血管治疗有利
小剂量的大麻复合物抑制动脉阻塞的形成。
在老鼠上的研究显示，一种来源于大麻的化合物能保护血管避免阻塞，这项发现对研究新的防治心脏病和中风的药物有帮助。
动脉粥样硬化是由香烟的尼古丁等损害因素引起免疫反应以导致脂肪沉积形成的。是发达国家引起心脏病和中风的首要病因。
Franois Mach报道说，这种化合物称为THC,THC 似乎可以抑制这种免疫反应，它能固定免疫细胞表面上的CB2蛋白质。
Mach的研究组给老鼠使用极小量的纯 THC 。就能减少超过三分之一的血管堵塞。
通过使用抑制固定CB2蛋白质的化合物会降低THC 的治疗性效果。 这证明，固定CB2 蛋白质治疗作用超过与之相似的分布在脑和神经系统的细胞上的CB1蛋白质对大麻的心理效应。
THC对动脉粥样硬化的治疗作用只在一个特定的剂量有效,较高和较低剂量， THC对动脉粥样硬化没有治疗性效果。
Mach强调治疗所需的按体重算的THC剂量很低不会产生情绪的改变。
诺丁汉医学院的Michael Randall说，这项研究并不意味着吸食大麻对心血管系统是有益的,实际上导致大麻含有许多导致心血管疾病的毒素。身体也生产它像大麻一样的化学物质，但他们是否由上面的效果则不清楚。
Mach说，THC 将能和他汀类药物一起用来降低胆固醇控制动脉粥样硬化,但我不认为THC 会代替他汀类药物。 因为 THC抑制免疫系统,这将降低机体抗感染的能力， 所以开发一种作用于CB2 蛋白质的化合物很由必要。
这项研究增加大麻化合物的潜在的医学作用。此外大麻化合物还能减轻疼痛，刺激食欲, 减轻癌症化疗的呕吐。
原文：http://cmbi.bjmu.edu.cn/news/0504/32.htm
Cannabis compound benefits blood vessels
Roxanne Khamsi
Low dose helps combat formation of arterial blockages.
A compound derived from the cannabis plant protects blood vessels from dangerous clogging, a study of mice has shown. The discovery could lead to new drugs to ward off heart disease and stroke.
The compound, called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), combats the blood-vessel disease atherosclerosis in mice. This disease occurs when damage to blood vessels, by nicotine from cigarettes, for example, causes an immune response that leads to the formation of fatty deposits in arteries.
These deposits form because the immune cells can linger too long, recruiting others and leading to an inflamed blockage that snares fatty molecules. The disease is the leading cause of heart disease and stroke in the developed world.
THC seems to tone down this immune response, report Franois Mach of the University Hospital Geneva, Switzerland and his colleagues. The compound binds to a protein called CB2 that is present on the surfaces of certain immune cells.
Block buster
Mach's team administered tiny amounts of pure THC to mice. The treatment reduced the progression of blood-vessel blockage formation by more than one-third, the researchers report in this week's Nature1.
Furthermore, feeding the mice a compound that interferes with binding to CB2 abolished the therapeutic effect of THC. This proves that the process involves the CB2 protein rather than a similar protein called CB1, which is found on cells in the brain and nervous system and is responsible for cannabis's psychological effects.
The benefits for atherosclerosis occurred only at a certain dosage, Mach adds. At higher and lower doses, THC has no therapeutic effect on blood vessels, he says. He notes the similarly moderated effects of alcohol on heart disease, adding that a single glass of Bordeaux may reduce risk while overindulgence can increase it.
The team also emphasises that the THC dose required to protect blood vessels is lower, relative to body weight, than that which would produce the mind-altering altering effects of cannabis in humans. "This paper has nothing to do with smoking marijuana," Mach stresses.
"It does not mean that smoking cannabis is beneficial to the cardiovascular system, as cannabis smoke contains many toxins which may actually lead to cardiovascular diseases," says Michael Randall of the University of Nottingham Medical School, UK, who has studied cardiovascular disease and cannabinoids.
"The body also produces its own cannabis-like chemicals and whether they may play a role in the above beneficial effects is unclear," he adds.
Future drugs
THC could be deployed alongside currently used cholesterol-controlling drugs called statins to fight atherosclerosis, Mach suggests. "I don't think this will replace statins. But we may add another compound that will fight against inflammation," he explains.
Because THC might suppress the immune system in a general way, there is a danger that it may harm the body's ability to fight infection. To avoid this, Mach says, it may be necessary to identify similar compounds that specifically target the CB2 protein.
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-05-02 05:14
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