I was reading some articles from the Journal of Neuroscience and the New England Journal of Medicine and came across these 2 published papers. Both of these research projects involve using the drug CBD.
Abstract
Prion diseases are transmissible neurodegenerative disorders characterized by the accumulation in the CNS of the protease-resistant prion protein (PrPres), a structurally misfolded isoform of its physiological counterpart PrPsen. Both neuropathogenesis and prion infectivity are related to PrPres formation. Here, we report that the nonpsychoactive cannabis constituent cannabidiol (CBD) inhibited PrPres accumulation in both mouse and sheep scrapie-infected cells, whereas other structurally related cannabinoid analogs were either weak inhibitors or noninhibitory. Moreover, after intraperitoneal infection with murine scrapie, peripheral injection of CBD limited cerebral accumulation of PrPres and significantly increased the survival time of infected mice. Mechanistically, CBD did not appear to inhibit PrPres accumulation via direct interactions with PrP, destabilization of PrPres aggregates, or alteration of the expression level or subcellular localization of PrPsen. However, CBD did inhibit the neurotoxic effects of PrPres and affected PrPres-induced microglial cell migration in a concentration-dependent manner. Our results suggest that CBD may protect neurons against the multiple molecular and cellular factors involved in the different steps of the neurodegenerative process, which takes place during prion infection.
CBD comes from (here it comes....) Marijuana! As we know, the prion disease CWD is a neurodegenerative diseases that is invariably fatal. This study involving both French and American researchers concluded that nonpsychoactive cannabidiol prevents prion accumulation and protects neurons against prion toxicity. The authors conclude that CBD likely represents a new class of anti-prion drugs with its ability to target the brain with little to no toxic side effects. CBD inhibited prion accumulation in mouse and sheep prion disease cell cultures and inhibited prion formation in the brain but not the spleen of infected mice given intraperitoneal injections of CBD. When the dose was increased, survival time of infected mice increased.
In a 2011 published research project showed that in a mouse model of prion infection, there was upregulation of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoyglycerol (2-AG) 10 weeks post-infection and upregulation of CB2 receptor expression as early as 10-32 weeks post-infection. This data suggests that there are important alterations of the endocannabinoid system during early stages of prion diseases.
These results sound promising especially since prions are so difficult to kill.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke state that presently there is no FDA-approved treatment that can cure or even control CJD. Researchers have tested many different types drugs to treat CJD including amantadine, steroids, interferon, acyclovir, antiviral agents, and antibiotics. None of these drugs have successfully cured CJD in people.
Maybe CBD is a step in the right direction to helping deer and people!
