Cannabis is often used to help people manage pain, reduce inflammation, and relax. One of its main ingredients, THC (short for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), is known for making people feel “high.”
It also has medical effects such as protecting brain cells and calming inflammation. But THC has a problem—it can hurt memory and learning. This makes it hard to use as a treatment for brain diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Chu Chen and his team at the University of Texas Health Science Center may have found a way to keep the good parts of THC while avoiding the bad.
In a new study published in the journal Aging and Disease, they tested a new idea on mice: what if THC was combined with another medicine to reduce the memory problems? They used a drug called celecoxib, which is commonly used to treat arthritis and is already approved for human use.
More than 10 years ago, Dr. Chen’s team discovered that THC increases a brain chemical called COX-2. This chemical is normally low but rises when the brain is hurt or sick.
It also plays a role in how the brain forms new connections, which is important for memory. The problem is that too much COX-2, triggered by THC, can damage memory. That made THC difficult to use safely in brain treatments.
On the other hand, the body makes its own cannabis-like chemicals, called endocannabinoids. One of them is called 2-AG. It acts in the brain and can actually reduce COX-2 levels and inflammation. That’s why Dr. Chen wondered if blocking COX-2 directly might help THC work better in the brain without harming memory.
So, his team tried combining a very small amount of THC with a small dose of celecoxib. In mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease—where the mice have beta-amyloid plaques or tau tangles in their brains, just like in human patients—the team gave these drugs daily for 30 days.
They started treatment before memory problems began to see if the combination could delay or stop Alzheimer’s symptoms from showing up.
They found that THC by itself helped improve memory and reduced some signs of Alzheimer’s in the brain, but it also raised inflammation. When they added celecoxib, the results were even better. The mice performed better on memory tests, had fewer Alzheimer’s-related brain problems, and showed lower inflammation.
Looking deeper, the researchers studied brain cells using a method called single-cell RNA sequencing. They found that the combination of drugs helped shift brain cells back toward a healthier state. Genes related to memory, brain function, and inflammation were working more normally again.
Dr. Chen said the most important thing was the mice’s behavior. “If cognition is not improved, then the treatment doesn’t matter,” he said. And in this case, the drug combo worked better than THC alone.
The good news is that both drugs are already approved for people. THC is used to help cancer and HIV patients with nausea and appetite, and celecoxib is commonly used for joint pain. This means testing the combo in humans could happen sooner than if a new drug had to be created from scratch.
This study focused on preventing Alzheimer’s symptoms, but Dr. Chen hopes future work will explore whether this drug mix can slow down or even reverse the disease after it starts. Even delaying Alzheimer’s by a few years could make a big difference for patients and families.
More people are becoming interested in how cannabis might help treat serious diseases. This study offers a new way to use THC more safely, especially for brain conditions like Alzheimer’s. It shows how science can find better ways to use natural compounds with fewer risks.
In summary, combining low-dose THC with celecoxib in mice helped protect memory, reduced harmful brain changes, and lowered inflammation. This smart pairing may lead to safer treatments for brain diseases in the future.
If you care about Alzheimer’s disease, please read studies that bad lifestyle habits can cause Alzheimer’s disease, and strawberries can be good defence against Alzheimer’s.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that oral cannabis extract may help reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms, and Vitamin E may help prevent Parkinson’s disease.
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