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heirtoruin
Jan. 13th, 2004 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheOk...I work in medical research. I read a poster outside of a lab today that is interesting in vision, etc. The poster was about the neuroprotective effects of delta-9-cannabinol.
Basically, they cultured rat retinal cells (your retina are the cells in the back of your eye that have the rods and cones that process images) in dishes. They would treat the cells with glutamate, which is associated with cell toxicity by allowing calcium into the cells, which would then set off a chain reaction leading to a greater chance of cell death. This is how diseases such as glaucoma work on the cellular level.
To counter the effect of glutamate, they added delta 9 THC to the culture also. Adding the THC blocked the toxic effects of the glutamate. Now, this was a really limited study done with cells in a dish...not in a real animal. I also don't know how the dose of THC given to the cells would relate to what we would smoke in a single joint. Of course, not all of it would get to our eye cells.
here
Basically, they cultured rat retinal cells (your retina are the cells in the back of your eye that have the rods and cones that process images) in dishes. They would treat the cells with glutamate, which is associated with cell toxicity by allowing calcium into the cells, which would then set off a chain reaction leading to a greater chance of cell death. This is how diseases such as glaucoma work on the cellular level.
To counter the effect of glutamate, they added delta 9 THC to the culture also. Adding the THC blocked the toxic effects of the glutamate. Now, this was a really limited study done with cells in a dish...not in a real animal. I also don't know how the dose of THC given to the cells would relate to what we would smoke in a single joint. Of course, not all of it would get to our eye cells.
here