MTHFR and Marijuana Use

Recreational pot use, medical marijuana, over-the-counter CBD products, and the general prevalence of Marijuana in all of its forms mean that this topic is more and more important for people who have an MTHFR gene mutation or a methylation imbalance to understand. Cannabis is the third most prevalent drug used in the US and Canada after alcohol and tobacco.

There are a number of both risks and potential therapeutic effects that are worth considering with MTHFR and any form of medical or non-medical cannabis use. The primary considerations are addiction and addictive tendencies, medical risks for MTHFR specifically, and also cannabis and its derivatives as methylation adaptogens.

MTHFR gene mutation and cannabis.

Addiction and Addictive Tendencies in MTHFR

MTHFR gene variants come with documented risks for increased addictive tendencies. That does not mean that every person with an MTHFR gene mutation is going to have a problem with addictions, but it does mean that more of us than average have problems. This tendency was demonstrated in a study published in the journal Addiction Biology, which demonstrated that people with the C677T polymorphism are more likely to suffer from alcoholism, and that the risk increases with the number of mutated copies of the C677T gene. So people with homozygous mutations, meaning two copies of the MTHFR C677T mutation, were at greater risk than people with heterozygous mutations, meaning one variant copy.

The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health published a shocking study of people with opioid use disorder that analyzed the genes of 232 patients, and found that a shocking 81% of them, which is much higher than the population average, had some form of MTHFR gene mutation. This shows how vulnerable we can be to this type of problem.

Marijuana itself is not highly addictive biochemically, but can be highly addictive in terms of habits because it helps people cope with a variety of mental health problems. So even if those people aren't physiologically addicted, they still go through the classic stages associated with a physiological addiction. These stages, known as the Koob and Volkow model of drug addiction, are Binge-Intoxication, which turns into Withdrawal-Negative Affect, which then converts to Preoccupation-Anticipation.

This cycle makes addiction a form of chronically relapsing disorder, drawing people back into the use cycle to avoid negative symptoms and quiet the mental chatter of anticipation. THC has been shown to increase dopamine in the same manner as other addictive substances, but to a lesser degree, which may explain the decreased tendency for physiological addiction. Still, the habit of regular use has the same consequences as any other addiction for people with or without an MTHFR gene variant.

Risks of Psychosis from Cannabis Use in Individuals with MTHFR Gene Variants

A strong link has been established between cannabis use and the development of schizophrenia and biopolar disorder, and a strong link between MTHFR and schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Research hasn't yet been done specifically on people with the MTHFR gene mutation who use cannabis and develop these conditions, but it likely will be in the next decade. At this point, a research review published in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry found that the risk of developing both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder increased with both the quantity of marijuana used and the age at which people began using. Earlier drug use increases the risk of developing a psychiatric disorder as does heavier drug use. While we can't say with certainty that this risk is further increased in people with MTHFR, it makes sense that it is.

CBD as a Methylation Adaptogen

One of the biggest issues with MTHFR gene mutations is their potential effect on DNA methylation, which can affect things like cancer and psychiatric disease risk. Because of this, herbs and supplements that act as "methylation adaptogens" are especially important for people with MTHFR variants because they can help to protect our genes and keep good genes turned on, which means unmethylated, and bad genes turned off, or methylated.

Cannabidiol, or CBD, has been shown to regulate gene methylation, and a study published in the journal Behavioral Brain Research demonstrated that CBD prevented stress-related depressive changes called "depression neurobiology" that are caused by gene methylation in extremely stressful situations. In this case, mice were subjected to a test called forced swim, and mice in the CBD group had fewer changes to their DNA methylation than did mice in the placebo group.

The key takeaway here is that marijuana is both good and bad for people with MTHFR. We have additional concerns about addictions and potential psychiatric consequences when cannabis is used in its whole form as a drug. CBD, however, may be a beneficial therapeutic to help protect people with MTHFR and keep our gene methylation balanced and healthy.