ú    Subject: MJ neurotransmitter found, opiate receptor cloned (Jour: Science)

I think I got the Subject of this right, but the UPI article is
non-technical enough that I'm not sure its accurate.  I'm running over
to the SF State Library to photocopy these articles right after I log
off...

From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 15:08:05 PST
Newsgroups: clari.tw.science,clari.news.law.drugs,clari.news.top
Subject: Scientists unlock mysteries of how drugs work in brain

	WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Scientists have identified long-sought brain
chemicals involved in making marijuana and other drugs work, which may
lead to better ways to break addictions, block pain and understand the
brain, it was reported Thursday.
	One group of researchers found a chemical produced naturally in the
brain that appears to stimulate the same cells that marijuana
stimulates. A second group cloned the protein that drugs like heroin and
morphine trigger to produce their effects.
	The findings, reported in two papers in the journal Science, should
enable scientists to learn more about how such drugs work in the brain
and could lead to ways to harness the beneficial effects of drugs.
	``Both of these findings are really important. They will lead to some
very interesting science in the next half decade,'' Michael Brownstein
of the National Institute of Mental Health told Science.
	Drugs work because they contain chemicals that travel to the brain
and, like a key, fit into structures likened to locks called
``receptors'' on certain brain cells, triggering activity by those
cells.
	Scientists have long searched for both the specific receptors for
certain types of drugs and the naturally occurring chemicals in the
brain that fit those receptors.
	William Devane and his colleagues at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem reported they had found a naturally occurring substance that
triggers the same receptors as does tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the
active ingredient in marijuana.
	The THC receptor is one of the most common receptors in the brain,
indicating it may be involved in a wide range of brain functions,
including memory, appetite and motor function, Devane said. Defects in
the receptor, therefore, may be involved a variety of diseases,
including possible the devastating disorder schizophrenia, he said.
	``Perhaps we can discover what its natural function is and what
diseases it may be involved in,'' Devane said in an interview. ``This is
just like opening a door to a new room. It provides a lot of new avenues
to explore. This will stimulate a lot of research.''
	Devane dubbed the newly identified substance ``anandamide,'' from a
Sanskrit word meaning ``bliss.'' Devane and his colleagues identified
the substance in the brains of pigs, but presumably an equivalent
substance is produced naturally in human brains, he said.
	The findings could enable researchers to develop drugs that have the
beneficial effects of marijuana, such as relieving pain, reducing blood
pressure and nausea and pressure in the eye from glaucoma, without
producing the psychotropic effects, he said.
	Meanwhile, Christopher Evans of the University of California, Los
Angeles, and his colleagues identified the structure of the ``opioid''
receptor, which is activated by drugs like heroin and morphine.
	The discovery of a receptor for opiates could help researchers
searching for non-addictive painkillers and for helping alleviate
withdrawal symptoms for addicts.

--
Lamont Granquist  lamontg@u.washington.edu
  "When dogma enters the brain, all intellectual activity ceases."
                                      -- Robert Anton Wilson