Safety and Pharmacokinetics of Oral Cannabidiol When Administered Concomitantly With Intravenous Fentanyl in Humans.

Posted on March 10, 2015 by David

“Objectives: Cannabidiol (CBD) is hypothesized as a potential treatment for opioid addiction, with safety studies an important first step for medication development. We determined CBD safety and pharmacokinetics when administered concomitantly with a high-potency opioid in healthy subjects.

Conclusions: Cannabidiol does not exacerbate adverse effects associated with intravenous fentanyl administration. Coadministration of CBD and opioids was safe and well tolerated. These data provide the foundation for future studies examining CBD as a potential treatment for opioid abuse.”

http://journals.lww.com/journaladdictionmedicine/Abstract/publishahead/Safety_and_Pharmacokinetics_of_Oral_Cannabidiol.99700.aspx

The cannabinoid receptor 2 is involved in acute rejection of cardiac allografts.

Posted on March 7, 2015 by David

“Acute rejection of cardiac allografts is a major risk factor limiting survival of heart transplant recipients. Rejection is triggered by dendritic cell (DC) mediated activation of host T cells, amongst others CD4+ T helper (TH)1- and TH17 cells.

The cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) is an important modulator of cellular immune responses…

These results demonstrate that CB2 modulates in vitro cytokine responses via DCs and directly via its influence on TH1/TH17 differentiation.

These findings and the fact that allograft rejection is enhanced in Cnr2-/- mice suggest that CB2 may be a promising therapeutic target in organ transplantation.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25744392

delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol in clinical oncology.

Posted on March 6, 2015 by David

“After anecdotal reports of marijuana’s providing antiemetic activity in cancer chemotherapy patients refractory to standard agents, orally administereddelta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was formally studied by a number of investigators.

In six of seven well-controlled studies, orally administered THC was a superior antiemetic agent compared with control agents.

Overall, the benefits of orally administered THC use represent a major advance in antiemetic therapy.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6262541

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/cancer/

Antiemetic effect of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol in chemotherapy-associated nausea and emesis as compared to placebo and compazine.

Posted on March 6, 2015 by David

“delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), prochlorperazine, and placebo were compared.

Nausea was absent in 40 of 55 patients receiving THC, in 8 of 55 patients receiving prochlorperazine, and in 5 of 55 in the placebo group.

THC appeared to be more efficacious in controlling the emesis associated with cyclophosphamide, 5-fluorouracil, and doxorubicin and less so for nitrogen mustard and the nitrosourea.

THC appears to offer significant control of nausea in most patients and exceeds by far that provided by prochlorperazine.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6271846

delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol for refractory vomiting induced by cancer chemotherapy.

Posted on March 6, 2015 by David

“Fifty-three patients receiving antineoplastic chemotherapy who had experienced severe nausea and vomiting refractory to standard antiemetic agents were treated with delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

These patients were given THC 8 to 12 hours before, during, and for 24 hours after chemotherapy.

Ten patients (19%) had no further nausea and vomiting; 28 (53%) had at least a 50% reduction of nausea and vomiting compared to previous courses with the same agents.

We suggest that, since THC is a useful antimetic agent in patients having refractory chemotherapy-induced vomiting, existing restrictions prohibiting its therapeutic use should promptly be eased.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6244418

Identification of the CB1 cannabinoid receptor and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) in the human placenta.

Posted on March 4, 2015 by David

“Synthetic cannabinoids, the psychoactive components of the Cannabis sativa (marijuana) and their endogenous counterparts, act through two G protein-coupled receptors, CB1 and CB2.

The endocannabinoids are metabolized by fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH).

We have examined CB1 receptor and FAAH expression in human term placenta by immunohistochemistry.

CB1 receptor was found to be present in all layers of the membrane, with particularly strong expression in the amniotic epithelium and reticular cells and cells of the maternal decidua layer. Moderate expression was observed in the chorionic cytotrophoblasts. The expression of FAAH was the highest in amniotic epithelial cells, chorionic cytotrophoblast and maternal decidua layer.

Our results suggest that the human placenta is a likely target for cannabinoid action and metabolism. ”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12744923

A common variation in the cannabinoid 1 receptor (CNR1) gene is associated with pre-eclampsia in the Central European population.

Posted on March 4, 2015 by David

“Recently it has been proposed that tightly regulated levels of endogenous cannabinoids play a fundamental role in early placental development.

The aim of this study was to investigate associations of three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the cannabinoid 1 receptor (CNR1) gene (rs1049353, rs12720071 and rs806368) and their inferred haplotypes with pre-eclampsia, a severe pregnancy-associated condition characterized by abnormal development and remodeling of spiral decidual arteries…

This is the first study focusing on the relationship between SNPs in the CNR1 gene and pre-eclampsia risk.

Although limited by a relatively small sample size, the study indicates that rs806368 in the CNR1 gene may act as a susceptibility marker for pre-eclampsia in humans.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21129839

Differential expression of endocannabinoid system in normal and preeclamptic placentas: effects on nitric oxide synthesis.

Posted on March 4, 2015 by David

“Anandamide (AEA) is a lipid mediator that participates in the regulation of several reproductive functions.

This study investigated the endocannabinoid system in normal (NP) and preeclamptic (PE) placentas, and analyzed the potential functional role of AEA in the regulation of nitric oxide synthesis…

These data suggest that AEA may be one of the factors involved in the regulation of NOS activity in normal and preeclamptic placental villous.

Interestingly, the differential expression of NAPE-PLD and FAAH suggests that AEA could play an important role in the pathophysiology of PE.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23122699

Decreased circulating anandamide levels in preeclampsia.

Posted on March 4, 2015 by David

“The endocannabinoid system has a key role in female reproduction, including implantation, decidualization and placentation. A growing number of studies indicate that placental and peripheral blood anandamide levels correlate closely with both spontaneous miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy.

Anandamide has also been implicated in blood pressure regulation.

In this study, we aimed to determine circulating anandamide levels in preeclampsia for the first time in the literature…

In conclusion, we demonstrated for the first time in the literature that serum anandamide concentrations are decreased in women with preeclampsia.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25716652

Emerging targets and therapeutic approaches for the treatment of osteoarthritis pain.

Posted on March 3, 2015 by David

“Osteoarthritis is a complex and often painful disease that is inadequately controlled with current analgesics. This review discusses emerging targets and therapeutic approaches that may lead to the development of better analgesics…

Aberrant excitability in peripheral and central pain pathways drives osteoarthritis pain, reversing this via modulation of nerve growth factor, voltage-gated sodium channel, voltage-gated calcium channel and transient receptor potential vanilloid one activity, and increasing inhibitory mechanisms through modulation of cannabinoid and descending modulatory systems hold promise for osteoarthritis pain therapy.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25730180

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/osteoarthritis/