“The central nervous system (CNS) innate immune response includes an arsenal of molecules and receptors expressed by professional phagocytes, glial cells and neurons that is involved in host defence and clearance of toxic and dangerous cell debris. However, any uncontrolled innate immune responses within the CNS are widely recognized as playing a major role in the development of autoimmune disorders and neurodegeneration, with multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) being primary examples. Hence, it is important to identify the key regulatory mechanisms involved in the control of CNS innate immunity and which could be harnessed to explore novel therapeutic avenues. Neuroimmune regulatory proteins (NIReg) such as CD95L, CD200, CD47, sialic acid, complement regulatory proteins (CD55, CD46, fH, C3a), HMGB1, may control the adverse immune responses in health and diseases. In the absence of these regulators, when neurons die by apoptosis, become infected or damaged, microglia and infiltrating immune cells are free to cause injury as well as an adverse inflammatory response in acute and chronic settings. We will herein provide new emphasis on the role of the pair CD200-CD200R in MS and its experimental models: experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and Theiler’s virus induced demyelinating disease (TMEV-IDD). The interest of the cannabinoid system as inhibitor of inflammation prompt us to introduce our findings about the role of endocannabinoids (eCBs) in promoting CD200-CD200 receptor (CD200R) interaction and the benefits caused in TMEV-IDD. Finally, we also review the current data on CD200-CD200R interaction in AD, as well as, in the aging brain.”
Monthly Archives: March 2014
Role of the Endocannabinoid System in the Neuroendocrine Responses to Inflammation.
“… the endocannabinoid system has been recognized as a major neuromodulatory system whose main functions are to exert and maintain the body homeostasis.
The coordinated neural, immune, behavioral and endocrine responses to inflammation are orchestrated to provide an important defense against infections and help homeostasis restoration in the body. These responses are executed and controlled mainly by the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis. Also, the hypothalamic-neurohypophyseal system is essential for survival and plays a role recovering the homeostasis under a variety of stress conditions, including inflammation and infection.
Since the endocannabinoid system components are present at sites involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary axis regulation, several studies were performed in order to investigate the endocannabinoid-mediated neurotransmitters and hormones secretion under physiological and pathological conditions.
In the present review we focused on the endocannabinoids actions on the neuroendocrine response to inflammation and infection. We provide a detailed overview of the current understanding of the role of the endocannabinoid system in the recovering of homeostasis as well as potential pharmacological therapies based on the manipulation of endocannabinoid system components that could provide novel treatments for a wide range of disorders.”
Distinctive pattern of cannabinoid receptor type II (CB2) expression in adult and pediatric brain tumors.
“The efficacy of cannabinoids against high-grade glioma in animal models, mediated by two specific receptors, CB1 and CB2, raised promises for targeted treatment of the most frequent and malignant primary brain tumors.
Unlike the abundantly expressed CB1, the CB2 receptor shows a restricted distribution in normal brain. Although brain tumors constitute the second most common malignancy in children and the prevalence of histological types of brain tumors vary significantly between the adult and pediatric populations, cannabinoid receptor expression in pediatric tumors remains unknown.
In the present study, we compared the expression of the CB2 receptor in paraffin-embedded sections from primary brain tumors of adult and pediatric patients. Most glioblastomas expressed very high levels of CB2 receptors and the expression correlated with tumor grade.
Interestingly, some benign pediatric astrocytic tumors, such as subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA), which may occasionally cause mortality owing to progressive growth, also displayed high CB2 immunoreactivity.
The high levels of CB2 expression would predestine those tumors to be vulnerable to cannabinoid treatment.
In contrast, all examined cases of embryonal tumors (medulloblastoma and S-PNET), the most frequently diagnosed malignant brain tumors in childhood, showed no or trace CB2 immunoreactivity.
Our results suggest that the CB2 receptor expression depends primarily on the histopathological origin of the brain tumor cells and differentiation state, reflecting the tumor grade.”
Multiple sleep alterations in mice lacking cannabinoid type 1 receptors.
“Cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptors are highly expressed in the brain… Endogenous cannabinoid signaling is modulated by high-fat diet (HFD).
We investigated the consequences of congenital lack of CB1 receptors on sleep in mice fed standard diet (SD) and HFD.
CB1 cannabinoid receptor knock-out (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice were fed SD or HFD for 4 months .
The occurrence of multiple sleep alterations in KO indicates important roles of CB1 cannabinoid receptors in limiting arousal during the active period of the day, in sleep regulation, and in sleep EEG in mice.”
Target-Selective Phototherapy Using a Ligand-Based Photosensitizer for Type 2 Cannabinoid Receptor.
“Phototherapy is a powerful, noninvasive approach for cancer treatment, with several agents currently in clinical use.
…we developed a phototherapy agent that combines a functional ligand and a near infrared phthalocyanine dye. Our target is type 2 cannabinoid receptor (CB2R), considered an attractive therapeutic target for phototherapy given it is overexpressed by many types of cancers that are located at a surface or can be reached by an endoscope.
Overall, this opens up the opportunity for development of an alternative treatment option for CB2R-positive cancers.”
Rosemary: A Cancer-Fighting Spice
“Rosemary: A Cancer-Fighting Spice” http://www2.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/2011/05/rosemary-a-cancer-fighting-spice.html
“Inhibitory effects of rosemary extracts, carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid on the growth of various human cancer cell lines…the extracts exhibited various cytotoxic effects against different cell lines…Rosemary extract is a potential candidate to be included in the anti-cancer diet…” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20449663
“Pharmacology of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis Linn.) and its therapeutic potentials. The use of plants is as old as the mankind. Natural products are cheap and claimed to be safe… It is concluded that rosemary and its constituents especially caffeic acid derivatives such as rosmarinic acid have a therapeutic potential in treatment or prevention of bronchial asthma, spasmogenic disorders, peptic ulcer, inflammatory diseases, hepatotoxicity, atherosclerosis, ischaemic heart disease, cataract, cancer and poor sperm motility.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10641130
“Polyphenols from the Mediterranean herb rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) for prostate cancer. This review focuses on the Mediterranean herb, rosemary, its polyphenolic diterpenes (carnosic acid and carnosol) and their role in chemoprevention of prostate cancer. Epidemiological studies suggest a reduced risk of cancer in patients consuming rosemary… These findings warrant further research to understand the potential of rosemary as a cancer chemopreventive agent in prostate cancer.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3607075/
“Effect of rosemary polyphenols on human colon cancer cells: transcriptomic profiling and functional enrichment analysis…rosemary polyphenols…may contribute to colon cancer cell death… Carnosol, one of the main polyphenols in rosemary, poses strong antioxidant and chemopreventive activities. This diterpene has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities on prostate, skin, breast, leukemia, and colon cancer. Another rosemary diterpene, carnosic acid, has proven antiproliferative activity in colon cancer cells…” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3534995/
“Carnosol induces apoptosis through generation of ROS and inactivation of STAT3 signaling in human coloncancer HCT116 cells… Carnosol, an active constituent of rosemary, has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24481553
“Carnosic acid inhibits the growth of ER-negative human breast cancer cells and synergizes with curcumin…Studies indicate that extracts and purified components, including carnosic acid, from the herb rosemary display significant growth inhibitory activity on a variety of cancers….Rosemary/carnosic acid, alone or combined with curcumin, may be useful to prevent and treat ER-negative breast cancer.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22828666
“Carnosic acid modulates Akt/IKK/NF-κB signaling by PP2A and induces intrinsic and extrinsic pathway mediatedapoptosis in human prostate carcinoma PC-3 cells. This study investigates the efficacy of carnosic acid (CA), a polyphenolic diterpene, isolated from the plant rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis), on androgen-independent human prostate cancer PC-3 cells…may have the potential for use in the prevention and/or treatment of prostate cancer.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22453599
“Carnosic acid, a rosemary phenolic compound, induces apoptosis through reactive oxygen species-mediated p38 activation in human neuroblastoma IMR-32 cells. Carnosic acid (CA), a rosemary phenolic compound, has been shown to display anti-cancer activity.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21833842
“Carnosic acid inhibits proliferation and augments differentiation of human leukemic cells induced by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and retinoic acid. Carnosic acid, the polyphenolic diterpene derived from rosemary, is a strong dietary antioxidant that exhibits antimutagenic properties in bacteria and anticarcinogenic activity in various cell and animal models…These results indicate that carnosic acid is capable of antiproliferative action in leukemic cells and can cooperate with other natural anticancer compounds in growth-inhibitory and differentiating effects.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12094616
“Carnosol-induced apoptosis and downregulation of Bcl-2 in B-lineage leukemia cells. Carnosol, a phenolic compound extracted from the herb rosemary has been reported to have anti-cancer activity… These results suggest that carnosol may be useful as a novel chemotherapeutic agent against B-lineage leukemias, and possibly other types of cancers that express high levels of the protective protein, Bcl-2.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11448532
“Carnosol, a dietary diterpene, displays growth inhibitory effects in human prostate cancer PC3 cells leading to G2-phase cell cycle arrest and targets the 5′-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway…These results suggest that carnosol targets multiple signaling pathways that include the AMPK pathway. The ability of carnosol to inhibit prostate cancer in vitrosuggests carnosol may be a novel agent for the management of prostate cancer” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2994272/
“Rosmanol potently induces apoptosis through both the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and death receptor pathway in human colon adenocarcinoma COLO 205 cells. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), a culinary spice and medicinal herb, has been widely used in European folk medicine to treat numerous ailments. Many studies have shown that rosemary extracts play important roles in anti-inflammation, anti-tumor, and anti-proliferation in various in vitro and in vivo settings.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21112365
“Ursolic acid, a pentacyclin triterpene, potentiates TRAIL-induced apoptosis through p53-independent up-regulation of death receptors: evidence for the role of reactive oxygen species and JNK. Discovery of the molecular targets of traditional medicine and its chemical footprints can validate the use of such medicine. In the present report, we investigated the effect of ursolic acid (UA), a pentacyclic triterpenoid found in rosemary and holy basil, on apoptosis induced by TRAIL. We found that UA potentiated TRAIL-induced apoptosis in cancer cells.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21156789
“Cooperative antitumor effects of vitamin D3 derivatives and rosemary preparations in a mouse model of myeloid leukemia…The results of our study suggest that the use of polyphenol-rich rosemary preparations together with low calcemic vitamin D3 analogs may represent a novel effective and low-toxic approach to combination differentiation therapy of acute myeloid leukemias.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2824511/
“Antiproliferation effect of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) on human ovarian cancer cells in vitro. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is a popular culinary/medicinal herb. Recent studies have shown it has pharmacologic activities for cancerchemoprevention and therapy.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22325591
“Anti-proliferative and antioxidant properties of rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis.
Constituents in rosemary have shown a variety of pharmacological activities for cancer chemoprevention and therapy in in vitro and in vivo models.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17487414
“Anti-angiogenic properties of carnosol and carnosic acid, two major dietary compounds from rosemary. Carnosol and carnosic acid, two major components of rosemary extracts, have shown activity for cancer prevention and therapy…The anti-angiogenic activity of carnosol and carnosic acid could contribute to the chemopreventive, antitumoral and antimetastatic activities of rosemary extracts and suggests their potential in the treatment of other angiogenesis-related malignancies.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22173778
Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and its major metabolite Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-11-oic acid as 15-lipoxygenase inhibitors.
“Δ(9)-Tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ(9)-THC), a major component of marijuana, has suggested to suppress atherosclerosis…. Δ(9)-THC seems to be attractive for the prevention of atherosclerosis…
In the present study, Δ(9)-THC was found to be a direct inhibitor for 15-LOX…
Furthermore, Δ(9)-THC-11-oic acid, a major and nonpsychoactive metabolite of Δ(9) -THC, but not another Δ(9)-THC metabolite 11-OH-Δ(9)-THC (psychoactive), was revealed to inhibit 15-LOX.
Taken together, it is suggested that Δ(9) -THC can abrogate atherosclerosis via direct inhibition of 15-LOX, and that Δ(9)-THC-11-oic acid is shown to be an “active metabolite” of Δ(9) -THC in this case.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20891010
“15-lipoxygenase inhibitors as anti-atherosclerosis agents.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Cannabidiol-2′,6′-dimethyl ether, a cannabidiol derivative, is a highly potent and selective 15-lipoxygenase inhibitor.
“Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the major components of marijuana, is known to inhibit LOX activity…
15-LOX is suggested to be involved in development of atherosclerosis, and CBDD may be a useful prototype for producing medicines for atherosclerosis.”
http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/37/8/1733.long
“15-lipoxygenase inhibitors as anti-atherosclerosis agents.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Endocannabinoid system in cancer cachexia.
“More than 60% of advanced cancer patients suffer from anorexia and cachexia.
This review focuses on the possible mechanisms by which the endocannabinoid system antagonizes cachexia-anorexia processes in cancer patients and how it can be tapped for therapeutic applications.
Cannabinoids stimulate appetite and food intake…
Cannabinoid type 1 receptor activation stimulates appetite and promotes lipogenesis and energy storage.
Further study of cancer-cachexia pathophysiology and the role of endocannabinoids will help us to develop cannabinoids without psychotropic properties, which will help cancer patients suffering from cachexia and improve outcomes of clinical antitumor therapy.”
The endocannabinoid signaling system in cancer.
“The endocannabinoid system, comprising lipid-derived endocannabinoids, their G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), and the enzymes for their metabolism, is emerging as a promising therapeutic target in cancer.
This report highlights the main signaling pathways for the antitumor effects of the endocannabinoid system in cancer and its basic role in cancerpathogenesis, and discusses the alternative view of cannabinoid receptors as tumor promoters.
We focus on new players in the antitumor action of the endocannabinoid system and on emerging crosstalk among cannabinoid receptors and other membrane or nuclear receptors involved in cancer.”