Department of Anatomy, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Sep 25;15(10):2098. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15102098.
Drug addiction affects a large extent of young people and disadvantaged populations. Drugs of abuse impede brain circuits or affect the functionality of brain circuits and interfere with bodily functions. Cannabinoids (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) form key constituents of marijuana derived from the cannabis plant. Marijuana is a frequently used illegal drug in the USA. Here, we review the effects of cannabinoids at the epigenetic level and the potential role of these epigenetic effects in health and disease. Epigenetics is the study of alterations in gene expression that are transmitted across generations and take place without an alteration in DNA sequence, but are due to modulation of chromatin associated factors by environmental effects. Epigenetics is now known to offer an extra mechanism of control over transcription and how genes are expressed. Insights from research at the genetic and epigenetic level potentially provide venues that allow the translation of the biology of abused drugs to new means of how to treat marijuana substance use disorder or other addictions using pharmacotherapeutic tools.
药物成瘾在很大程度上影响着年轻人和弱势群体。滥用药物会阻碍大脑回路或影响大脑回路的功能，并干扰身体功能。大麻素（Δ9-四氢大麻酚）是大麻植物中提取的大麻的主要成分。大麻是美国常用的非法药物。在这里，我们回顾了大麻素在表观遗传水平上的作用，以及这些表观遗传效应在健康和疾病中的潜在作用。表观遗传学是研究基因表达的改变，这些改变可以在不改变 DNA 序列的情况下在代际之间传递，但由于环境影响对与染色质相关的因素的调节而发生。现在已知，表观遗传学为转录和基因表达方式提供了额外的控制机制。遗传和表观遗传学水平的研究结果为如何利用药理学工具治疗大麻物质使用障碍或其他成瘾提供了新的途径，这些途径可能提供了理解滥用药物生物学的途径。
