A new challenge to medical marijuana?

FRIDAY, Oct. 26, 2018 (HealthDay News) – A moss-like plant grown in only a few countries will provide better pain relief than marijuana for medical use animal studies.

THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) marijuana is used to treat conditions such as pain, muscle cramps, dizziness and loss of appetite. However, although marijuana for medical purposes is gaining acceptance in the United States, it is illegal in many countries and can have significant side effects.

Swiss scientists are working with a potential alternative. They say that the hepatic ( Radula perrottetii ) contains an anti-inflammatory substance called perrottetinene that is THC-related. The plant grows only in Japan, New Zealand and Costa Rica.

"This natural substance has a lower psychoactive effect and, at the same time, is able to inhibit inflammatory processes in the brain," said researcher Andrea Chicca at a university. Bern press release. Chicca works at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the University.

Using a synthetic version of the compound in laboratory animals, the researchers found that perrottetinene easily reached the brain and activated the cannabinoid receptors. They said that he also had a stronger anti-inflammatory effect in the brain than THC.

However, there is still a phase of research at an early stage, noted the scientists, so that the medical pot will not be competitive soon. And research on animals often does not give the same results in humans.

The study was published Oct. 24 in the journal Science Advances .

Japanese researchers in the 1990s were the first to identify the psychoactive compound in the liver plant. Previously, it was thought that only marijuana produced psychoactive effects, according to the briefing notes of the study.

For More

The US National Anti-Drug Abuse Institute has more on marijuana for medical purposes.