Somewhere in Oregon, a worm the size of a pencil tip is craving Doritos.
Well, sort of. But it does have a case of the munchies — and it’s craving its favorite food.
That’s right — in a new study, researchers in Oregon found that exposing nematode worms to cannabis not only made them eat more, but also gravitate toward favored foods — leaving behind the ones they deem less tasty.
This closely parallels the effects of cannabis on human appetites, according to the study published in Current Biology.
That’s part of the reason nematodes like C. elegans are often used in many research studies. At the molecular level, the cannabinoid system in nematodes mimics those in humans and other mammals. Cannabinoids act by binding to their complementary detector proteins, called cannabinoid receptors, in the brain, nervous system and other parts of the body. Those receptors typically respond to related molecules that play a significant role in anxiety, memory and eating.
After exposure to cannabis, the worms also displayed increased olfactory sensitivity to favorite food smells and less to those of other foods. The researchers said this sets the stage for future studies, as olfactory neurons don’t have cannabinoid receptors — so the worms’ sensitivity to smell is a head-scratcher.
A key takeaway from this study: When researchers replaced the worms’ own cannabinoid receptors with the human equivalent, they found no difference in the worms’ response to cannabinoids.
When it comes to the effect of cannabis on appetite and food consumption, nematodes respond much like people do … which is to say, eating with gusto and favoring treats.