UCR Study: Cannabis Compounds Aid Metabolism

UC Riverside researchers said this week that a whole-plant cannabis extract improved blood-sugar control in obese mice even when pure THC, the plant’s main psychoactive compound, did not. The findings, published May 11 in The Journal of Physiology, add to a long-running question in cannabis research: why regular users in some population studies have shown lower rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes despite cannabis’s appetite-stimulating effects. Nicholas V. DiPatrizio, a professor of biomedical sciences at the UC Riverside School of Medicine, led the study. The work was preclinical, and the researchers said it should not be taken as evidence that cannabis is ready to be used for weight loss or diabetes treatment. ### What did the researchers actually test? The Journal of Physiology paper studied male mice fed either a high-fat, high-sucrose diet or a lean-control diet for 60 days, according to the PubMed abstract. Starting on day 30, the obese mice received either pure delta-9 THC at 5 milligrams per kilogram per day or cannabis extracts matched for THC content for another 30 days. (news.ucr.edu) UC Riverside said the extract was a whole-plant preparation containing the same level of THC as the pure-THC treatment along with other naturally occurring cannabis compounds. That design let the researchers compare whether THC alone explained the metabolic effects. ### Did both treatments cause weight loss? (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) The PubMed abstract said both THC and the cannabis extracts reduced body weight and fat mass in diet-induced obese mice. The difference came when the team looked beyond weight and measured glucose handling and other metabolic markers. UC Riverside said mice treated with THC alone still showed impaired glucose regulation after losing weight. (news.ucr.edu) Mice given the whole-plant extract also lost weight, but they showed a reversal of metabolic impairments tied to glucose homeostasis, the university said. ### Why did the extract outperform THC alone? (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) Nicholas DiPatrizio said the results suggest THC by itself does not account for the metabolic benefits linked to cannabis use. “Other compounds in the plant appear to play a critical role,” he said in the UC Riverside release. The PubMed abstract said the extracts more effectively normalized the expression of adipokines — signaling molecules made by fat tissue — that regulate the so-called adipoinsular axis. (news.ucr.edu) UC Riverside said that pathway helps fat tissue communicate with the pancreas to regulate insulin secretion and blood glucose, and that the signaling is disrupted in obesity and type 2 diabetes. ### Does this explain the “munchies but lower weight” paradox? UC Riverside said the study was designed to probe what it called a long-observed paradox: cannabis is associated with increased food intake in the short term, yet regular users in population studies have often shown lower body weight and reduced type 2 diabetes risk. The mouse results do not prove the same mechanism operates in people, but they point to non-THC compounds as one possible explanation, according to the university and the paper abstract. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) A 2019 UC Riverside announcement shows DiPatrizio’s lab had already received funding to study how long-term cannabis exposure affects metabolic disease, including type 2 diabetes. That earlier grant described the same puzzle around appetite, body weight and glucose homeostasis. ### Should people read this as medical advice? UC Riverside said no. (news.ucr.edu) The university’s May 12 release said the findings do not support using cannabis as a treatment for metabolic disease at this stage because further preclinical and human studies are still needed. Medical Xpress, summarizing the university’s report, likewise said the researchers emphasized caution and the need for more work before any clinical use. (news.ucr.edu) The study was done in mice, not in people, and no human dosing or treatment recommendation was offered in the paper summary indexed by PubMed. ### What comes next? The paper is published in The Journal of Physiology under the title beginning “Δ9 Tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabis extracts differentially improve” metabolic outcomes in mice, according to PubMed. (news.ucr.edu) DiPatrizio and co-authors wrote that the results support more preclinical and human research into which cannabis compounds beyond THC may be driving the effect. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) (medicalxpress.com)