Science

Eat more, move less and don’t gain weight by blocking a marijuana-like chemical in the brain

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Blocking a marijuana-like chemical in the brain could allow one to eat more, exercise less and not gain weight (Photo via Shutterstock)
The molecular structure of Anandamide
The molecular structure of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol)
This cannabis sativa plant contains chemicals with properties similar to those found in the brains of all mammals
The molecular structure of 2-AG (2-arachidonolyglycerol)
Blocking a marijuana-like chemical in the brain could allow one to eat more, exercise less and not gain weight (Photo via Shutterstock)
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Unless you're a rodent, it's probably too early to get excited about the possibility of being able to eat all you want, be a couch potato and still not gain weight, but new research using a strain of specially-modified mice indicates that just such an unlikely scenario might one day be possible. Recently, a team of scientists from UC Irvine (UCI), Yale and Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, Italy discovered they could bring this metabolic miracle about in the lab by blocking the actions of a marijuana-like compound that regulates energy metabolism.

To bring about this hypermetabolic state, the researchers, led by UCI pharmacology professor Daniele Piomelli, altered forebrain neurons in mice to reduce production of a substance called 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). Evidently, all mammalian brains contain 2-AG, a naturally-produced endocannabinoid compound. The team believes this plays a role in regulating the forebrain neural circuits that take part in energy dispersal.

When these 2-AG-deprived mice were observed, they consumed more food and were more sedentary than their unmodified cousins but gained no extra weight, even when fed high-fat chow. Especially interesting was the absence of any signs of the symptoms collectively known as metabolic syndrome, such as high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar - conditions that can eventually lead to heart disease and obesity.

"We discovered that these mice were resistant to obesity because they burned fat calories much more efficiently than normal mice do," Piomelli said. "We had known that endocannabinoids play a critical role in cell energy regulation, but this is the first time we found a target where this occurs."

So what, exactly, was going on? Mammals have two types of adipose (fat) tissue: white and brown. The white stores calories while the brown burns them for energy and heat production. In the mice with reduced 2-AG, their brown fat became hyperactive and began converting into heat at a greatly accelerated rate compared to normal mice. That's information that could potentially turn the multi-billion dollar weight-loss industry on its head.

Obviously, we can't go around modifying human brains to produce less 2-AG in an effort to create a race of lazy, svelte gluttons, but could some kind of weight-gain prevention drug based on this data one day find its way into the pharmaceutical pipeline?

"To produce the desired effects, we would need to create a drug that blocks 2-AG production in the brain, something we're not yet able to do," Piomelli cautioned. "So don't cancel that gym membership just yet. But as you hit the treadmill, think about the added health benefits if you could train your brain to make fewer endocannabinoids."

The team's study appears in the March 2012 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.

Source: UC Irvine

The molecular structure of 2-AG (2-arachidonolyglycerol)

More about endocannabinoids

Endocannabinoids are compounds naturally produced in our bodies that activate cannabinoid receptors. In an odd twist of science, researchers discovered the first cannabinoid receptor back in 1988, years before they discovered its activating molecule. It wasn't until 1992 that the first receptor ligand, arachidonoylethanolamine or AEA (dubbed Anandamide after the Sanskrit word for bliss, ananda) was identified. Although its molecular structure is different, it has properties similar to tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana (also known as cannabis sativa/indica).

Endocannabinoids modulate a number of factors in the human body, including pain, mood and appetite, so there's currently a flurry of drug research in this area, especially with regard to cannabis, which contains at least 85 different cannabinoids. Interestingly, cannabis, when consumed raw (not heated or dried) is not psychoactive, which has led to a budding (pun intended) subculture of devotees who eat or juice the raw leaves for their numerous medical benefits.

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9 comments
Nacho Lotitto
Smoke a joint before starting an excercise routine and you get exactly the same results.
Bob Ehresman
John W. Huffman, an organic chemist at Clemson, developed more than 450 compounds that bind to cannabis receptors. It crosses my mind that work like his could lead to a blocker.
Veronica Deevers
I want to UNblock the marijuana chemical in my brain please.
johnweythek
John W Huffman, should make you think JWH. JWH chems are what kids are dying from inside of "spice" and "bath salts". That's an effective way to lose weight but not very appealing. He had to create these chemicals because he was given a grant on marijuana research but could not bring any of the illegal drug into his laboratory thanks to strict state guidelines.
This research seems dangerous since most research about cannabinoids usually result in them being beneficial to the human body (apart from some minor, temporary, cognitive and motor impairment, or getting high.) Research into losing weight without working is about as useful as research into better liposuction and cosmetic surgery. Guess what, exercise more and eat (and DRINK) less. It sucks but it makes you skinnier. Did for me.
I use cannabis for pain relief (spine injury), and depression since anti-depressants make me sick. It would terrify me to think of blocking these natural phytocannabinoids with some synthetic chemical. If those mice aren't laying around b/c they hurt and are depressed I wouldn't be at all surprised.
Sharon Fishwick
If the brown fat is becoming hyperactive and producing more heat, is that not leading to an abnormally high body temperature?
yinfu99
Exercising more and eating less doesnt work for everyone, sorry to say. I look forward to this option. It doesnt mean I want to be lazy and eat more, I just want to overcome the genetic disposition to gaining and retaining fats.
Walt Stawicki
@ Sharon. perhaps all that heat is swreted out like at the gym. so eat, lay around and still smell like you just arrived "fresh" from the exercise room.
skeptic anything says this millions year developement can be improved by big pharma.
Ralf Biernacki
"We discovered that these mice were resistant to obesity because they burned fat calories much more efficiently than normal mice do,"
Surely he meant less efficiently? Efficient burning means that you need to burn less fat, and consequently accumulate more.
Cyndysub
"we can't go around modifying human brains to produce less 2-AG in an effort to create a race of lazy, svelte gluttons" Well, we already have a "race of lazy, gluttons" what would be wrong with them being svelte? Food sellers would make even more money than they do now. Just put a 3.5% federal tax on food and we would no longer need an income tax to fund everything.