Sleep Apnea and Cannabinoid Research

Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, is described by a cessation of breath. While a diagnosed individual is sleeping, the upper airway is blocked partially or completely. The patient stops breathing for a few seconds and the diaphragm and chest muscles, in this case, have to work harder to get air to the lungs. Sleep apnea is also characterized by a loud gasp or body jerk. An older patient or heavier patient runs the risk of worse symptoms, as these risk factors contribute to a significantly decreased quality of sleep. Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are also symptomatic of sleep apnea, as the irregular breathing experienced throughout the sleep cycle is detrimental to one’s health.

Dr. Michael Calik at UIC came to talk about his work with injecting Dronabinol, an anti-nausea synthetic form of THC prescribed to chemotherapy patients, into the nodose ganglia of rats. Calik in found periodic doses of Dronabinol in rats in weakened reflex apnea and increased upper airway activities in rats. Dr. Calik’s work is incredible in the sense that a cannabinoid treatment can be used to treat apnea, as human and rat models have shown correlations between increased vagal activity and increased apnea.

 

Over the last decade, medical marijuana is gaining attention as treatment for certain sleep disorders, like sleep apnea. However, medical marijuana research is still in its preclinical stages. For the most part, studies on medical marijuana and sleep have found that it aids in patients with difficulty falling asleep and breathing disruption in sleep apnea. With medical marijuana use, sleep quality improves.

Boer Deng in Nature discusses the effects of Dronabinol in his article, “Marijuana flips appetite.” Dronabinol, the anti-nausea drug used in Calik’s research. The activation of CB1 receptors elicits a release of appetite-promoting hormones, contributing to a feeling of hunger after use. Tamas Horvath of Yale University reports that pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons play a key role in this process. POMC had generally been thought to promote hunger, but Horvath's team found that POMC neurons create both hunger-suppressing and appetite-promoting effects. It is important to note that much research has contributed to the body activating CB1 receptors with a drug as opposed the cannabinoids naturally produced in the body.

This type of neuronal discovery may lead to discovering the specific hormones involved in sleep apnea and its associative treatments. With the change in attitudes and increasing funds in cannabinoid research, there is a potentially promising future for sleep apnea patients and the medical field at large.

Calik, M.W., Carley, D.W., (2014). Cannabinoid Type 1 and Type 2 Receptor Antagonists Prevent Attenuation of Serotonin-Induced Reflex Apneas by Dronabinol in Sprague-Dawley Rats

Deng, Boer. "Marijuana Flips Appetite Switch in Brain." Nature. Nature Publishing         Group, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 1 May 2015. <http://www.nature.com/news/marijuana-flips-appetite-switch-in-brain-1.16957#b1>.