Marijuana is known to set the mood for love, particularly among women. Now scientists have new perspectives on how the drug exerts its effects - at least in rats. A study published in the January 23 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that the influences of drug active substances acts through two chemical messengers known to have a strong influence on reproductive behavior.
In rats as in people, sexual behavior requires certain hormones. If the ovaries are removed from a female rat, for example, she will not raise her rump when she is ready to mate. This behavior can be restored with injections of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone - and also with plans of the active ingredient of marijuana, 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
To get a better handle on this Indeed, molecular biologist Shaila. Mani from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston injected rats with chemicals that block one of the three receptors in the brain cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1), which is known to bind to THC and thought to trigger its effects psychotropic; a progesterone receptor; and a dopamine receptor, a neurotransmitter known to be involved in pleasurable activities like sex. With any of these receptors blocked, a stroke THC could not restore the sexual behavior of rats. Apparently, the THC uses somehow both dopamine and ways of progesterone, says Mani.
This is a surprise. "Nobody expected that cannabinoids may interact with dopamine and progesterone," says pharmacologist Nephi Stella of the University of Washington, Seattle. He thinks the study can generate new interest for THC effect on sexual behavior. But Mani warns that such behavior, while directly controlled by progesterone in rats, is much more complex in humans. In other words, smoking a joint can have a subtle effect on the behavior of women
-. C aroline S Eydel
Related Sites
homepage Nephi Stella
cannabinoids in the brain
Pharmacology information on Central cannabinoids
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