THC Slows Brain Aging in Mice, Study
Anti-ageing and increased mental capacity through cannabis - Dr. Andras Bilkei-Gorzo clarifies the influence of tetrahydrocannabinol treatment on the metabolic switch mTOR. © Photo: University Hospital Bonn / Rolf Müller
A new study might give a clue on the anti-aging and cognitive-enhancing potentials from long-term THC exposure. Supported with funds from the German government, a team of researchers with the University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn and Hebrew University (Israel) have been able to demonstrate this in mice.
Mice that were given low doses of the main psychoactive cannabinoid in cannabis - THC, had increased energy and synaptic protein production.
“Long-term low-dose Δ9-THC had an antiaging effect on the brain by restoring cognitive abilities and synapse densities in old mice,” wrote scientists in the research piece recently published in the journal ACS Pharmacology & Translation Science. A key contributor appears to be the mTOR protein switch, whose signal strength has an influence on cognitive performance and metabolic processes within the entire organism.
Scientists worked with older and younger age groups of mice, giving them either THC or a placebo for a month-long period. They carefully observed and measured brain function as well as protein activity related to metabolism, memory and aging. A significant focus was put on mTOR, as a critical protein component that drives both cognitive performance and other age-related cellular processes around the body.
“Anti-aging strategies based on the reduction of mTOR activity might not only be ineffective but even counterproductive against brain aging. In our current work, we have now found a strategy to solve this dilemma,” said Dr. Andreas Zimmer, one of the researchers on the team, in a press release statement.
Effects Vary by Age of Mice
THC was associated with increased mTOR activity in older mice’s brains as well as elevated protein levels which facilitate formation and repair of brain synapses. The older mice that were exposed to THC also had heightened metabolic activity in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that commands memory and learning.
Something was happening outside the brain too: the adipose tissue of older mice (which is body tissue for fat storage) showed a drop in mTOR activity as well as greater concentrations of fatty acids and other chemicals associated with combating age.
Interestingly, the effects observed were strongly dependent on age, which is consistent with earlier research on THC effects on brain function. “Our previous studies showed that long-term low-dose Δ9-THC treatment has an opposite effect on the brain of young and old animals: Δ9-THC-treated old mice showed an improved learning ability and enhanced synapse densities, whereas the same treatment slightly impaired the memory and destabilized spines in young animals,” commented the study authors.
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Stephen Andrews
