DOPED SKIN

NATURAL compounds that are found in skin but related to the active
ingredient in marijuana may help to filter pain.

Daniele Piomelli and his colleagues at the Neurosciences Institute in San
Diego have found that two cannabinoids, anandamide and PEA, become
concentrated in the skin near injuries. They say in this week's Nature (vol
394, p 277) that the two compounds combined have 100 times the painkilling
power of morphine.

This suggests that protein receptors for cannabinoids, which had previously
only been found in the central nervous system, must exist in the skin as
well. Piomelli speculates that the skin's cannabinoid system could help to
moderate the pain of injuries and may filter out painful stimuli that are
not harmful.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)