[namkha]

Marijuana-Like Compounds Fight AIDS, Study Finds
http://www.huffingto...kusaolp00000008

Marijuana-like drugs can do more for AIDS patients than simply help them with their nausea or loss of appetite, according to a new study.

Doctor Tipster found new research published in the medical journal PLoS One that suggests marijuana-like compounds actually fight the HIV virus in late-stage AIDS patients.

Researchers told Doctor Tipster that they already know "cannabinoid drugs" like marijuana can have a therapeutic effect in AIDS patients. But they wanted to further understand how they "influence the spread of the virus itself."

The study found that "cannabinoid receptors" are triggered by marijuana-like compounds and can actually block the spread of the HIV virus throughout the body.

Now, the researchers who conducted the study are planning to test a marijuana-like drug in mice infected with late-stage AIDS, according to Zee News.

Americans For Safe Access, a pro-medical marijuana organization, cites various studies which suggest medical marijuana also helps HIV and AIDS patients who suffer from pain and weight loss.

[chronic1]

When they say Marijuana-like drugs do they really mean Cannabis ?

[northwest]

http://www.plosone.o...al.pone.0033961

Way over my head really, I saw it via a guy who writes on neuroscience of the Guardian site, on twitter... Mo Costandi.

http://www.guardian....neurophilosophy

Popular story at the top of that last link...

This post has been edited by northwest: 27 March 2012 - 09:10 AM

[Randal Graves]

chronic1, on 27 March 2012 - 07:28 AM, said:

When they say Marijuana-like drugs do they really mean Cannabis ?

This is over my head as well but:

Quote

Yet recent analysis of HIV/AIDS patients enrolled a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial designed to study the outcome of cannabinoid administration have indicated that cannabinoid use does not result in significant immunosuppression [1]. Indeed, both smoked marijuana and dronabinol were reported to increase total CD4+ T cell number [1] and naïve T cell number [8] over a 21-day period. A decrease in viral load was also observed in these patients [1]. Similarly, in SIV infected rhesus macaques, Δ9-THC exposure reduced viral load and CD4+ T cell depletion, significantly increasing animal survival over an 11 month period [9]. Despite these findings, the mechanisms by which cannabinoid drugs can influence viral replication or pathogenicity remain unknown.

(from the actual study linked to by northwest - my emphasis).

Drobanol is delta-9-THC, under the brand name Marinol.

The second bold bit is for caution - correlation does not equal causation.

I don't understand it though I think they've talked about another trial, but the one they are doing themselves was blood samples in petri dishes - a long way off of human use, as is the trial done on SIV macaques..
interesting though.

[Merrytricks]

Over my head as well - I can't grok it all in one sitting - but this seems very positive overall, and is not confined to petry dishes. Looks like lower concentrations and cumulative effect over time may be key?

Quote

The CB2R may be considered as an adjunct therapeutic target for inhibition of CXCR4-tropic viral spread to resting T cell populations in patients with AIDS. A particularly compelling therapeutic rationale for the evaluation of antiviral affects of CB2R agonists may be to address severe symptoms of cachexia or neuropathic pain which may also present in patients with AIDS, without the adverse neurological or behavioral side effects associated with CB1R agonism [59]. Although the effect of CB2R agonists on HIV infection is moderate, an accumulated effect in patients treated daily for pain could explain positive effects on viral load over time. We find that CB2R agonist pretreatment of resting cells inhibits viral spread in a receptor-selective manner in resting cells and does broadly inhibit T cell activation (Figure 2). Although previous studies have indicated that pan-cannabinoid agonists can possess an immunosuppressive function in vitro [11] and in vivo [42], [43], ablation of CB2R in mice was not found to increase T cell number, proliferation, or apoptosis in the periphery [14]. Immunosuppression by CB2R may be attributed in part to drug toxicity at high concentrations of cannabinoid agonist. Indeed, the use of cannabinoid drugs in patients with HIV is associated with an increase, rather than a decrease, in CD4+ T cell number [1] and has been shown to reduce viral load in SIV infected rhesus macaques [9]. It is possible that novel CB2R-specific agonists and allosteric modulators that exert potent anti-viral activity without inducing immunosuppression could be identified. Further study of cannabinoids and other neuroendocrine regulators that selectively modulate immune function may result in the discovery of new anti-viral drugs that can also mitigate AIDS-associated symptoms.

Further coverage:

Science Daily: ht tp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120320195252.htm
Toke of the Town: ht tp://www.tokeofthetown.com/2012/03/marijuana-like_compound_effective_against_late_sta.php

[komodod]

it cures cancer, cures aids. now why the fuck wont it make my receeding hair grow back??