Competition of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol with estrogen in rat uterine estrogen receptor binding.
Direct competition experiments with delta 9 -tetrahydrocannibinol (delta 9-THC) and estradiol in binding assays with rat uterine cytosol estrogen receptors showed that delta 9-THC was a weak, but nevertheless significant, competitor for binding to cytoplasmic estrogen receptors. These data support, at the molecular level, the observations that delta 9-THC has a weak estrogenic activity (at least the ability to bind to estrogen receptors). Moreover, estrogen-like binding suggests that delta 9-THC, acting at the level of estrogen receptor, causes a primary estrogenic effect rather than an indirect or secondary phenomenon.
D000818:Animals; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D002499:Centrifugation, Density Gradient; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D013759:Dronabinol / Q000378:metabolism*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D014599:Uterus / Q000378:metabolism*
D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D004958:Estradiol; D013759:Dronabinol