Reneé James

A compound that builds up as cannabis ages shields neurons from a type of cell death tied to Alzheimer's. Scientists at the Salk Institute in California, led by neuroscientist Pamela Maher, studied cannabinol, or CBN, a lesser-known compound that slowly forms in cannabis as THC breaks down. They exposed nerve cells to oxytosis, a type of cell death driven by oxidative stress that becomes more common with age and is linked to Alzheimer's. CBN protected the neurons, and the team traced that protection to mitochondria, the tiny power plants inside cells. Under stress, the mitochondria curled into donut shapes, a change also seen in aging brain cells from people with Alzheimer's, but CBN kept them intact and working. When the mitochondria were removed, the protective effect disappeared. Crucially, CBN worked without switching on the brain's cannabinoid receptors, which means it wouldn't be expected to cause a high, and unlike THC it isn't a controlled substance. That makes it an appealing starting point for new drugs, and the researchers think the same protection could matter for other brain diseases such as Parkinson's. That said, these experiments were done on cells in lab dishes, not in people. And they tested a purified compound, so the results don't mean that smoking or eating cannabis protects the brain. Still, by pinpointing exactly how CBN shields neurons, the work points researchers toward a promising new target for treating brain aging. source: Liang, Z., Soriano-Castell, D., Kepchia, D., Duggan, B. M., Currais, A., Schubert, D., & Maher, P. (2022). Cannabinol inhibits oxytosis/ferroptosis by directly targeting mitochondria independently of cannabinoid receptors. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 180.