clipped from article:
March 21, 2012
Marijuana and its CD4 Receptors: A New HIV Treatment Strategy?
by Tim Horn Drugs that target one of the two cellular receptors stimulated by the active ingredient in marijuana may prove to be effective at blocking a form of HIV that has been linked to faster disease progression during late stages of the infection. Though the PLoS One research report highlighting these findings—published March 20 by a team of scientists at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York—stops short of concluding that marijuana is one of nature’s best antiretrovirals, the authors suggest that further study of cannabinoids is needed to ultimately discover drugs with both antiviral and symptom-reducing properties.
Marijuana—purchased legally or illegally and either smoked or ingested—along with its synthetic counterpart Marinol (dronabinol) are used by many people living with HIV to manage various symptoms of illness, including pain, depression and weight loss.The numerous effects of marijuana are the result of chemical interactions between the drug’s active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and two receptors on a variety of cells in the body: cannabinoid receptor 1 (CR1) and cannabinoid receptor 2 (CR2). [ read more at link]
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