Contact: Melissa Fabian Department of Public Relations and Communications[email protected] (660) 626-2355
KCOM professor finds molecular link between marijuana and its anti-vomiting effect
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. -- Nissar A. Darmani, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCOM), has recently found connections between a cannabinoid (marijuana) receptor and emesis (vomiting) with the help of a $496,133 grant (1999-2002) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Instead of using cats and dogs for his testing, he has used the shrew, the smallest animal that has vomiting tendencies, as a model for his experiments. With the shrew, Dr. Darmani has determined the CB1 receptor for marijuana is the "anti-vomiting" receptor.
The main purpose to his testing and research has been to help relieve the vomiting and nausea in cancer patients caused by treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy. "We hope to find marijuana like drugs that do not give the high, but can prevent vomiting," says Dr. Darmani.
His research paper entitled, Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Synthetic Cannabinoids Prevent Emesis Produced by the Cannabinoid CB1 Receptor Antagonist/Inverse Agonist SR 141716A, has recently been published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, February 2000, volume 24, pages 198-203, and on the web at http://www.elsevier.nl/inca/publications/store/5/0/5/7/7/8/index.htt. (Select Tables of Content under Contents Services in the left column.)
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