A new method for lowering high blood pressure (hypertension) through use of a compound that synthesizes a cannabis plant component has been developed by a pharmacology Ph.D. student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Pharmacy.

For his work on the cardiovascular activity of cannabinoids - chemical compounds derived from cannabis, - Yehoshua Maor was one of the winners of this year's Kaye Innovation Awards, presented in June during the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's 69th meeting of the Board of Governors.

High blood pressure leads to about one-third of all deaths in industrialized countries, and is the leading reason for visits there to physicians as well as for drug prescriptions.

However, not all patients respond well to high blood pressure drugs available. There is no "ideal" blood pressure lowering drug.

The cannabis plant - also known as hashish or marijuana - through its chemical compounds has been shown to have a beneficial, hypotensive effect.

However, a drawback in the therapeutic use of cannabinoids has been its undesirable psychotropic properties - production of hallucinatory effects.

Attempts to separate the hypotensive action from the psychotropic properties of cannabinoids have achieved only partial success until now.

Working under the supervision of Prof. Raphael Mechoulam at the Hebrew University School of Pharmacy, Maor, who was born in Brazil and immigrated to Israel in 1998, has created a synthetic version of a minor cannabis constituent named cannabigerol, which is devoid of psychotropic activity.

In laboratory experiments with rats in collaboration with Prof. Michal Horowitz of the Department of Environmental Physiology, it was found that this novel compound reduced blood pressure when administered to the rats in relatively low doses. Additional testing also showed that the compound also brought about another beneficial effect -- relaxation of the blood vessels.

Maor believes that these qualities have the potential for development of a valuable new clinical drug with a major market potential, especially for patients suffering from inflammation of the blood vessels as the result of high blood pressure. 

 Other news