Medical Cannabis May Reduce Tremors

Medical cannabis may help reduce nerve activity and thereby the involuntary shaking that results in tremors, as discovered by the researchers from the Department of Neuroscience at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. Cannabinoids are psychoactive compounds found in cannabis and the central nervous system. They are medically used for the treatment of nausea due to chemotherapy, spasticity, and possibly neuropathic pain.

The present study utilized a mouse model to demonstrate the action of a specific synthetic cannabinoid (cannabinoid WIN55,212-2) in reducing essential tremor by activating the support cells of the spinal cord and brain, known as astrocytes.

'We have focussed on the disease essential tremor. It causes involuntary shaking, which can be extremely inhibitory and seriously reduce the patient's quality of life. However, the cannabinoid might also have a beneficial effect on sclerosis and spinal cord injuries, for example, which also cause involuntary shaking. We discovered that an injection with the cannabinoid WIN55,212-2 into the spinal cord turns on the astrocytes in the spinal cord and prompts them to release the substance adenosine, which subsequently reduces nerve activity and thus the undesired shaking', says Associate Professor Jean-François Perrier from the Department of Neuroscience, who has headed the research project.

Targeted Treatment with Cannabinoids

Most of our movements like voluntary and spontaneous movements are controlled and triggered when the spinal cord's motor neurons (that sends impulses to the muscles) are activated. Involuntary shaking in tremors occurs when the motor neurons send out conflicting signals at the same time.

'One might imagine a new approach to medical cannabis for shaking, where you - during the development of cannabis-based medicinal products - target the treatment either at the spinal cord or the astrocytes - or, at best, the astrocytes of the spinal cord. Using this approach will avoid affecting the neurons in the brain responsible for our memory and cognitive abilities, and we would be able to offer patients suffering from involuntary shaking effective treatment without exposing them to any of the most problematic side effects of medical cannabis', says Postdoc Eva Carlsen, who did most of the tests during her PhD and postdoc projects.

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The team further plans to perform clinical tests on patients suffering from essential tremor to determine the efficacy of this new approach on humans.

Source-Medindia