Cannabinoid Science Research Group - Honours in 2009
An Honours project undertaken in this lab would be administered by the Discipline of Pharmacology.
Why cannabis use promotes psychotic relapse
Supervisor + contact details:
- Dr Jonathon Arnold
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects 1% of the world's population. This disorder creates a major cost to Australian society where, apart from patient and family distress, it accounts for 2% of our health and community expenditure. Human studies have established a link between cannabis and schizophrenia, however, the exact nature of this relationship is unclear. For example, some argue that cannabis use worsens schizophrenia patient outcomes, while others insist upon the opposite, that patients "self-medicate" with the drug for treatment effects.
This debate would be better informed by preclinical studies outlining the exact mechanisms responsible for the interaction between cannabis and schizophrenia. We have preliminary data suggesting that chronic cannabinoid exposure increases levels of P-glycoprotein in the brain. Hence, we aim to extend upon this data and definitively demonstrate that cannabinoids decrease the efficacy of antipsychotic drugs by affecting drug efflux transporters expressed at the blood brain barrier. This would help inform schizophrenia patients and medical practitioners of the precise reasons why cannabis use promotes psychotic relapse and poor treatment outcomes.
This project will use both in vivo and in vitro techniques to examine the effect of cannabinoid exposure on the effectiveness of antipsychotic medications and drug transporters in the brain.
