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Higher Logic

By Rachel Nowak (28 August 2004)

A cannabis-like substance produced by the brain may dampen delusional or psychotic experiences, rather than trigger them.

Heavy cannabis use has been linked to psychosis in the past, leading researchers to look for a connection between the brain's natural cannabinoid system and schizophrenia. Sure enough, when Markus Leweke of the University of Cologne, Germany, and Andrea Giuffrida and Danielle Piomelli of the University of California, Irvine, looked at levels of the natural cannabis-like substance anandamide, they were higher in people with schizophrenia than in healthy controls.

The team measured levels of anandamide in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 47 people suffering their first bout of schizophrenia, but who had not yet taken any drugs for it, and 26 people who had symptoms of psychosis and have a high risk of schizophrenia. Compared with 84 healthy volunteers, levels were six times as high in people with symptoms of psychosis and eight times as high in those with schizophrenia. "This is a massive increase in anandamide levels," Leweke told the National Cannabis and Mental Illness Conference in Melbourne, Australia, last week. And that is just in the CSF. Levels could be a hundred times higher in the synapses, where nerve signalling is taking place, he says.

But were the high anandamide levels triggering the psychotic symptoms or a response to them? Leweke and his colleagues found, to their surprise, that the more severe people's schizophrenia was the lower their anandamide levels. The team's theory is that rather than triggering psychosis, the substance is released in response to psychotic symptoms to help control them. People with the worst symptoms might be unable to produce sufficient anandamide to prevent them.

At some point in their lives, between 5 and 30 per cent of healthy people have had symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations, which can be triggered by something as simple as sleep deprivation. "All of us are potentially psychotic," says David Castle of the University of Melbourne. So for the body to have a system that prevents these experiences getting out of hand makes sense, he says.

The new findings suggest antipsychotic drugs could be developed that target the anandamide system, but it will not be simple. The active ingredient in cannabis, THC, binds to anandamide receptors. But people with schizophrenia who use cannabis actually have more severe and frequent psychotic episodes than those who do not. This may be because THC makes anandamide receptors less sensitive. Leweke's team also found anandamide levels lowest in people with schizophrenia who used cannabis more frequently, suggesting it may disrupt the system in other ways too.

Up to 60 per cent of people with schizophrenia use cannabis. A study by Castle, also reported at the Melbourne meeting, has found that people use the drug to get rid of unpleasant emotions associated with the disease such as anxiety and depression.

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vladimir

this is the first logical explanation of the pot/schizophrenia connection that i have ever seen, thanks for posting it.
all the other things seemed to say, 'if you smoke a lot of pot, you have a high chance of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.' i hate those reports.

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teufelfisch

I first learned about the relationship between anandamide and schizophrenia through this journal article.

Giuffruda, A., Leweke, F.M., Gerth, C.W., Schreiber, D., Koethe, D., Faulhaber, J., Klosterkotter, J., & Piomelli, D. “Cerebrospinal Anandamide Levels are Elevated in Acute Schizophrenia and are Inversely Correlated with Psychotic Symptoms.” Neuropsychopharmacology. 2004, 29(11), 2108-2114.

The significance of this is that we are one step closer toward understanding schizophrenia, and one step closer to more effective treatments. Unfortunately, anandamide itself cannot be administered because it is rapidly broken down. Some derivatives, though, are both more stable and more potent.

For more information on anandamide in relation to THC and potency (not schizophrenia), check this out.

http://www.elon.edu/student/jguske/c...ry/anandamide/

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aposiopesis

I wrote a post on much the same thing a while ago. A lot of the information I got was the exactly the same, and from the same sources, as yours Higher Logic, but I interpreted it a little differently. That post is here

Post script: 4 more posts till break room and counting.....
Haven't been contributing anything of value to marijuana.com of late.......Brain seems to have been snap frozen in an effort to reflect the cacophany of voices, since I stopped smoking on weekdays. Theres an anamoly, having trouble focussing WITHOUT marijuana. Bet thats anandamide related.

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beefman351

well does marijuana when used increase your risk of scitsofrenia??? or cause it??? im really really worried about this scitsofrenia ****, i want to smoke mary jane occasionally but i have no idea of his scitsofrenia ****, ive read reports that show it increases your risk of scitsofrenia and stuff like that, so does anyone here know anything about it?

 

Mamabudz

Your question is answered in the above thread

Mamabudz

Oh...by the way...might want to see this thread August '04 ...when it hit our front page for the first time

... I had an interesting theory... love to get some feedback on it now from you gang