Cannabinoids

Cannabinoids, Endocannabinoids, and Related Analogs in Inflammation

It is intended to be an update on the topic of the involvement of cannabinoids in the process of inflammation. A possible mechanism for these actions is suggested involving increased production of eicosanoids that promote the resolution of inflammation.

This differentiates these cannabinoids from cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors that suppress the synthesis of eicosanoids that promote the induction of the inflammatory process.

Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis & Cannabinoids

Despite the ongoing political debate regarding the legality of medical marijuana, clinical investigations of the therapeutic use of cannabinoids are now more prevalent than at any time in history.

For example, in February 2010 investigators at the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research publicly announced the findings of a series of randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials on the medical utility of inhaled cannabis. The studies, which utilized the so-called ‘gold standard’ FDA clinical trail design, concluded that marijuana ought to be a “first line treatment” for patients with neuropathy and other serious illnesses.

Among the studies conducted by the Center, four assessed smoked marijuana’s ability to alleviate neuropathic pain, a notoriously difficult to treat type of nerve pain associated with cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, spinal cord injury and many other debilitating conditions. Each of the trials found that cannabis consistently reduced patients’ pain levels to a degree that was as good or better than currently available medications.

United States Department of Health and Human Services Receives Patent for Cannabinoids as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants

“The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia. Nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidoil, are particularly advantageous to use because they avoid toxicity that is encountered with psychoactive cannabinoids at high doses useful in the method of the present invention” ~ US Patent #6630507

Medical Marijuana Without the ‘High?’

New research shows that marijuana, long a symbol of tie-dyed inebriation, could one day become a respectable prescription drug with no intoxicating effects.

A Chapman University scientist reveals in two recent studies that nausea-reducing chemicals in marijuana can be separated from the chemicals that produce euphoria.

While use in humans is years away, the findings by Keun-Hang Susan Yang and her fellow researchers could be especially good news for chemotherapy patients, she says. Separate research has shown that marijuana sharply curbs the nausea induced by chemotherapy.

Her recent work focuses on two major chemicals found in marijuana — THC (tetraydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol).

Antibacterial Cannabinoids from Cannabis Sativa: A Structure−Activity Study

Evidence that pre-cannabidiol is a powerful plant antibiotic was obtained and more recent investigations have demonstrated, to various degrees, antibacterial activity for the nonpsychotropic cannabinoids cannabichromene (CBC), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabidiol (THC).

The Putative Cannabinoid Receptor GPR55 Promotes Cancer Cell Proliferation

Cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, have dramatic effects on various organ systems. They exert their effects through two receptor types: CB1, primarily located in the brain, and CB2, primarily located in the immune system.

Vertebrates also produce their own cannabinoid-like substances called endocannabinoids, including anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglyceral. Interestingly, some effects of endocannabinoids could not be explained by the signals through either CB1 or CB2.

Recently, the orphan G protein-coupled receptor 55 (GPR55) was proposed to be an atypical cannabinoid receptor.

Two groups demonstrated that GPR55 is expressed in various cancer types in an aggressiveness-related manner, suggesting a novel cancer biomarker and a potential therapeutic target.

Cannabinoids Offer Novel Treatment for Pain in Sickle Cell Disease, Study Suggests

MINNESOTA — A University of Minnesota Medical School research team led by Kalpna Gupta, Ph.D., has discovered that cannabinoids offer a novel approach to ease the chronic and acute pain caused by sickle cell disease (SCD).

Dr. Donald Abrams Has High Hopes For the Future of Cannabis Therapeutics

VIDEO from MedicalMarijuana411.com: Donald Abrams, M.D. talks about Cannabis Science and some of the positive effects of medical marijuana from the doctor’s perspective: “Cannabis science is a huge field. I think that we have had somewhat of a moratorium on doing research on smoked marijuana as a medicine. There is this explosion in cannibiniod receptor, agonist, antagonist, endo-cannabinoids, manipulating the endo-cannabinoid system. But I think its very exciting, you know to think about all the potential therapeutics to come.”

Low-Cannabidiol Strains of Cannabis May Impair Memory

According to a report in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, the low- and high-cannabidiol cannabis strains smoked in the study contained a similar about of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is known to impair memory.

“This study shows apparent protection from THC-induced memory deficits by cannabidiol,” Nadia Solowij, PhD, of the School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, in New South Wales, Australia, who was not involved in the study, told Medscape Medical News. “Further research could potentially lead to the development of therapeutic cannabidiol for memory-related disorders,” she added.

Marijuana Compound Shows Promise In Fighting Breast Cancer

A compound found in cannabis may prove to be effective at helping stop the spread of breast cancer cells throughout the body

The study, by scientists at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, is raising hope that CBD, a compound found in Cannabis sativa, could be the first non-toxic agent to show promise in treating metastatic forms of breast cancer.

“Right now we have a limited range of options in treating aggressive forms of cancer,” says Sean D. McAllister, Ph.D., a cancer researcher at CPMCRI and the lead author of the study. “Those treatments, such as chemotherapy, can be effective but they can also be extremely toxic and difficult for patients. This compound offers the hope of a non-toxic therapy that could achieve the same results without any of the painful side effects.”

The researchers used CBD to inhibit the activity of a gene called Id-1, which is believed to be responsible for the aggressive spread of cancer cells throughout the body, away from the original tumor site.

Project CBD - Introducing Cannabidiol (CBD)

Project CBD is a not-for-profit, educational service dedicated to promoting and publicizing research into the unique medical properties of cannabidiol (CBD) and other components of the cannabis plant. As described in Summer 2010 O’Shaughnessy’s, CBD is a non-psychoactive compound that doesn’t make people feel “stoned.” The reduced psychoactivity of CBD-rich cannabis strains makes it an appealing treatment option for patients seeking anti-inflammatory, anti-pain, anti-anxiety and/or anti-spasm effects without disconcerting euphoria or lethargy.

Cannabis Reduces Infant Mortality - Surprising Connections Between "Failure-to-Thrive" and Cannabinoids

Cannabis Reduces Infant Mortality Surprising Connections Between Failure to Thrive and Cannabinoids (NORTHERN CALIFORNIA)…

GW Announces UK Launch of World’s First Prescription Cannabis Medicine

Sativex®, available as a prescription only medicine, was developed by GW in specific response to calls from people with MS for a prescription cannabis-based medicine. Today’s launch means that MS patients suffering the spasms and cramping associated with spasticity have access to a new treatment option which has been shown to improve their symptoms where current treatments have failed.

Sativex® is manufactured by GW under Home Office licence at an undisclosed location in the UK. The medicine is being marketed in the UK by GW’s UK licensee, Bayer Schering Pharma.

Cannabinoid Treatment for Pain Control Still Marked by Death of Research, Legal Constraints

Can cannabis overcome the controversy that surrounds it and enter the
mainstream in both research and clinical practice for pain control?

The answer is a qualified yes—because federal policy remains equivocal
toward the legality of any use of cannabis, even as more and more states
authorize its use for management of pain and many other medical conditions.

Osteoporosis and Research

There are many aspects that one can talk about. One is the basic biochemical, pharmacological, scientific aspect of the whole problem. Here we have a new neurotransmitter. A group of compounds that have a huge amount of tasks if we look at the chemically related compound, I made a list of that, these compounds are involved almost all physiological reactions. So many of them, That I think here there is so much work to be done by scientists over the next 20, 30, 40 years. A lot of those compounds are around, some of them bind to the cannabinoid receptors, others are just chemically related and bind to other receptors are involved in many many other things. And I mentioned before, those that bind to the Cb2 receptors are part of a general protective facility, if you wish, in our body like the immune system. So that is the basic thing, then there is the medical thing, we have to find out how we can use them and what are the diseases we can use these compounds against.

Osteoporosis

These two receptors that are specific to cannabinoids. But cannabinoids also, some of them bind to other receptors. There is one-called 133 I think, GPR133, there is another one, which is GPR18. I may be mistaken on the numbers, but I think GPR18, GPR133 and so on. They are not specific for the cannabinoids so there is a lot of discussion between the pharmacologists should we call them cannabinoid receptors. The decision at the moment is lets wait and sees. At the moment we have only two that have been approved as cannabinoid receptors. All the others with a question mark. Two receptors have evolved for certain specific conditions, feeding for example, appetite, feeding, and things of that sort. But some of the other actions most definitely go through other systems.

Dr. Raphael Mechoulam

My name is Raphael Mechoulam. Im a professor at Hebrew University. I have been there for many years. Im doing research on the chemistry and biology of natural products, mostly, but also some drugs. There is no drug that has no side effects. I doesnt exist. The same is probably true for cannabis. Now being a chemist, I was particularly interested in the individual constituents of the plant. Surprisingly, the constituents of the cannabis plant were not well known when we started work many years ago, several decades ago. The psychoactive component of cannabis was not known at that time, surprisingly, again. Because morphine had been isolated from opium about 150 years before that, cocaine about 100 years before that, and yet the active component of cannabis had never been isolated in pure form.

Dr. Raphael Mechoulam

Endocannabinoids this is the short name for endogenous cannabinoids. Cannabinoids is a compound, which acts on two receptors. One receptor is found mainly in the brain, the other receptor is found mainly in the periphery. But, surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, during certain diseases the second receptor that is not present in the brain starts to pop up. All of a sudden it is available there. So the suggestion has been made by many others, and us that actually this receptor, the Cb2 receptor, is part of a protective mechanism. We have protective systems in our body. The immune system is a protective system. It guards us against microbes and viruses things like that. If we didnt have an immune system, we would be dead in a week. Probably eaten up by microbes.

Investigation of Cannabinoids

Our non-profit organization that we set up about 2 years ago has been doing a lot of work educating physicians around the medical cannabis issue. We have realized there is a need for physicians to be taught more and they really appreciate hearing it from other physicians, who either have experience with patients, who are doing research like myself. And this group, its call the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids, its a fairly big mouthful, but the CCIC for short, is the group, and that has been really rewarding.

Cannabis As Medicine

I think that as we accept the medical utility of cannabis. We are going to start to dig more deeply in to the cannabinoids the key constituents of the marijuana plant that are providing this benefit. From a pharmaceutical company perspective, I think there is going to be an interest in trying to isolate those compounds. Or trying to work within the endogenous cannabinoids system that system of cannabinoids, which is functioning within all of us all the time with, out any external influence. Trying to target that with medications that can up regulate the level of cannabinoids in our bodies can eliminate the break down of cannabinoids. So perhaps getting a cannabinoid effect without really taking in a cannabinoid but by enhancing our own endogenous levels. So I think that is one area the pharmaceutical industry is going to be taking. I think another area is trying to improve the over all quality and regulation of herbal cannabis.

Medical Marijuana and Cancer

I think another very exciting field about cannabis medicines, is the potential effect that cannabiniods and maybe some of the other components of the marijuana plant may have against cancer cells. Interestingly, although this work was initially being done the National Cancer Institute in the 1970s. It disappeared in the United States and most of this work is done in Spain and Italy. And many of my colleagues in those countries are very enthusiastic about the anti cancer activities of cannabiniods and how they work in many different places in the cancer cell cycle. To lead to arrest of cell division, cell migration and metastasis and cell invasiveness. So I think that there is a lot to be studied in this field too that is very exciting.

Cannabinoids Rather Than Ritalin for Children?

Treating Yourself, a medical marijuana journal for patients by patients, in a recent article posses several questions, one of the most obvious being: how could anybody give psychostimulants (like Ritalin and Adderall), amphetamines and methamphetamines, to children?

Cannabinoids and the Immune System

Cannabinoids are immune system modulators, with the specific CB2 cannabinoid receptor found on most cells on the immune system, promoting the Th2 response while inhibiting the Th1 response. The Th1 immune response is critical for fighting infections caused by specific infectious agents while the Th2 response promotes the humoral arm of the immune system. It turns down the Th1 immune response, is characterized by antibody production, and is typically anti-inflammatory. The Th1 and Th2 pathways are functionally balanced to optimally meet the survival needs of an organism in its environment. Many autoimmune and other age-related diseases (such as MS, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and diabetes) are characterized by an excessive Th1-driven immune response at the site of the tissue damage involved.

Endocannabinoid System - Vital Role In Human Body

Science has found two cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2 (so far) as part of our ‘receptor’ category within the human endocannabinoid system but with further research we’ll soon begin to understand much more about this system (internal compounds much like marijuana). This system also includes degradation, synthesis, and transport. Some of these compounds date back roughly 600 million years and can be found in hundreds of life forms and it is through these life forms that this system evolved with us.