THC May Treat Inflammatory Diseases and Cancer By Altering Genes

http://www.jbc.org/content/early/2013/11/07/jbc.M113.503037.short#ref-list-1

An intriguing new government funded study published by the Journal of Biological Chemistry has found that THC may actually alter certain genes in our body, which may result in a positive effect on a number of conditions, especially cancers and inflammatory diseases.

Researchers using rat models found that THC positively altered 13 different microRNAs, including mir-690, which is strongly linked to inflammatory responses; the study claims that; “Among the differentially expressed, miRNA-690 was highly overexpressed in THC-MDSC (~16 fold)”.
According to researchers; “Select miRNA such as mir-690 targeting genes involved in myeloid expansion and differentiation likely play crucial roles in this process and therefore in cannabinoid-induced immunosuppression.”
They conclude that these results indicate that THC may treat “inflammatory diseases as well as cancer.”
The study was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Health.