Researchers found that roundworms gobble down high-calorie foods when exposed to a compound that acts on the same brain receptor as THC.
Just like humans, roundworms may also crave their favorite snacks after getting high on weed, scientists recently discovered. The researchers didn't test the worm's reactions to cannabis itself, but to a compound that activates the same receptors in the brain.
One of the most well-known effects of smoking or consuming marijuana is an intense increase in appetite, known as"the munchies." Marijuana, or the dried flowers, leaves, stems and seeds of the plant Cannabis sativa, contains a class of chemicals called cannabinoids. These cannabinoids include the main compound behind weed's psychoactive effects, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol , and they bind to cannabinoid receptors in the brain.
The scientists exposed worms to high concentrations of anandamide for 20 minutes and then offered them five types of bacteria. These bacteria differed in terms of how quickly they cause nematodes to grow, once eaten. The team found that the worms, now soaked in anandamide, rapidly devoured the growth-promoting bacteria while barely picking at the others.
"The nematode and human cannabinoid receptors are interchangeable," Lockery said."This emphasizes the commonality of cannabinoid effects in nematodes and humans, even after 500 million years of evolution."
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