# New Grant Funds Marijuana Research



## LdyLunatic (Oct 4, 2006)

Mississippi -- Research scientists at the University of Mississippi plan to use a recently awarded $11 million grant to develop Tetrahydracannabinol mini-patches and study the euphoric effects of marijuana among other projects in a new neuroscience research center.
Ole Miss's School of Pharmacy was one institution of 11 to receive a part of $117 million in Center of Biomedical Research Excellence grants this year. 

"In addition to providing research facilities, it will also broaden opportunities for educational research and community outreach," a pharmacy professor and COBRE investigator Rae Matsumoto said.

"The COBRE is a big step forward in research and is going to help a lot of researchers; a long-time effort will be put in place and will play a big role within the next five years," she said.

Ole Miss' specific area of research stems around neuroscience as well as identifying certain components and properties of natural products that affect the central nervous system, Matsumoto said.

One of the research projects funded under the grant tackles the problem of treating patients with Tetrahydracannabinol, which cannot be delivered in pill form.

Patients with nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy, depression, migraine headaches, anxiety and stress, epilepsy and pain may benefit from a new mini-patch associate professor of pharmaceutics Michael Repka and assistant professor of pharmaceutics Soumyajit Majumdar are developing.

The THC mini-patch will release chemicals into the body like a nicotine patch, although the mini-patch is applied in the mouth above the gums.

"The advantage is by taking the drug orally, very little is absorbed through the GI tract," said Repka, "which means we don't have to use as large as a dose and the patient usually won't become nauseated."

The COBRE grant is making it possible for Repka and Majumdar to purchase a new piece of lab equipment to develop new drug delivery systems through a hot-melt extrusion process.

"The [piece of equipment] that will be at Ole Miss will be unique in the sense that no other academic institution in the United States or the world will have one," said Repka. 

Both Repka and Majumdar are excited about what the grant means for pharmaceutics at Ole Miss.

"This grant not only gives me the opportunity to prove this concept for THC and for neurological diseases, but it also provides us with the opportunity to prove this drug delivery system for other therapeutic agents," Repka said.

Another project junior investigators in the program are conducting identifies the euphoric qualities of Cannabis Sativa, commonly known as marijuana.

Samir Ross, associate professor of pharmacognosy, and Desmond Slade, associate research scientist in the National Center for Natural Products Research at Ole Miss will look for new compounds in the plant that may be good leads for new medications. 

In addition to junior investigators' research, the COBRE umbrella includes many Center of Research Excellence projects. 

Jordan Zjawiony, professor of pharmacognosy and research professor, leads the chemistry COBRE project.

Zjawiony says his group is currently working on identifying "psychoactive components of many different organisms, and that includes psychoactive plants, fungi, marine organisms and microorganisms."

One of Zjawiony's studies looks at hallucinogenic plants from all over the world, particularly one named Salvia Divinorum, which has been used for years by shamans for religious ceremonies. 

Salvia Divinorum is commonly used as a street drug because it is not regulated by federal law, but has similar effects to marijuana.

"We are much more interested in what is in this plant, what kind of compounds we can find in it and how the drug interacts with our brain, with our body." Zjawiony said. He hopes his studies lead to cures for central nervous system diseases, such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

"We just want to make the good stuff from the bad stuff," Zjawiony said.

The National Center for Research Resources in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health announced on Sept. 19 that it would grant $117.3 million to fund four new and seven continuing COBREs. Twenty-four "underserved" states received grants from the NIH, of which the COBREs are the most coveted.

According to the NIH Web site, NIH was founded in 1887 and is one of the world's foremost medical research centers, as well as the federal focal point for medical research in the United States. The goal of NIH research is to acquire new knowledge to help prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat disease and disability. 

Source: Daily Mississippian (U of MS Edu)
Author: Angie Barmer
Published: October 4, 2006
Copyright: 2006 The Daily Mississippian


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