Science is Fun Fridays!
Chronic pain conditions occur more often in US adults than other prevalent conditions like diabetes and depression. About 1 in 5 adults live with chronic pain.
Scientists have recently developed a synthetic cannabinoid that keeps the pain-relieving properties of cannabis without being psychoactive - or addictive, like pharmaceutical opioids.
The team designed a molecule that is positively charged, which prevents it from being able to cross the blood-brain barrier. This means it cannot bind to its target cannabinoid receptor (CB1) in the brain, but can act on cells in the rest of the body.
Studies on the compound, known as VIP36, shows the effect persists without showing signs of tolerance.
This is the kind of important research NIH grants help support.
