“In the present study, we investigated the effects of acute pharmacological manipulation of the endocannabinoid (EC) system on the valence of cognitive judgement bias of rats in the ambiguous-cue interpretation (ACI) paradigm.
Our findings suggest involvement of the endocannabinoid system in the mediation of optimistic judgement bias.”
“The modulation of endocannabinoid (EC) levels and the activation of cannabinoid receptors are seen as promising therapeutic strategies in a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
These data reinforce the notion of a role for the EC system in neuroinflammation and open new perspectives on the relevance of modulating EC levels in the inflammed brain.”
“The cannabinoid CB1 Neutral Antagonist Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCv) has been suggested as a possible treatment for obesity but without the depressogenic side-effects of inverse antagonists such as Rimonabant.
Our findings are the first to show that treatment with the CB1 neutral antagonist THCv decreases resting state functional connectivity in the Default Mode network and increases connectivity in the Cognitive Control network and Dorsal Visual Stream network.
This effect profile suggests possible therapeutic activity of THCv for obesity where functional connectivity has been found to be altered in these regions.”
“This study demonstrates that the combination of rimonabant, naloxone and norBNI is effective at producing weight loss over a sustained period of time without altering performance in standardised mouse behaviour tests. Fos expression patterns offer insight into the neuroanatomical substrates subserving these physiological and behavioural changes.
These results indicate that CB1-targeted drugs for weight loss may still be feasible.”
“Cannabis has been used throughout history for different purposes but was outlawed in the United States in 1937; many countries followed suit. Although recently reintroduced as a medical treatment in several countries, the use of cannabis in Israel is permitted for some medical purposes but is still controversial, eliciting heated public and professional debate. The few published studies on physicians’ attitudes to medical cannabis found them to be generally unsupportive.
To examine, for the first time, the experience, knowledge and attitudes of Israeli physicians towards medical cannabis (MC)…
Physicians generally agreed that MC treatment could be helpful for chronic and for terminally ill patients. Oncologists and pain specialists did not agree unanimously that MC can undermine mental health, whereas other physicians did. Physicians who recommended MC in the past (once or more) agreed, more than physicians who did not, with the statement “MC treatment in Israel is accessible to patients who need it”.
In contrast to other studies we found partial acceptance of MC as a therapeutic agent. Further in-depth studies are needed to address regulatory and educational needs.”
“The vast therapeutic potential of cannabinoids of both synthetic and plant-derived origins currently makes these compounds the focus of a growing interest. Although cannabinoids are still illicit drugs, their possible clinical usefulness, including treatment of acute or neuropathic pain, have been suggested by several studies.
In addition, some observations indicate that cannabinoid receptor antagonists may be useful for the treatment of alcohol dependence and addiction, which is a major health concern worldwide.
While the synergism between alcohol and cannabinoid agonists (in various forms) creates undesirable side effects when the two are consumed together, the administration of CB1 antagonists leads to a significant reduction in alcohol consumption.
Furthermore, cannabinoid antagonists also mitigate alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Herein, we present an overview of studies focusing on the effects of cannabinoid ligands (agonists and antagonists) during acute or chronic consumption of ethanol.”
“The pharmacologic and biochemical features of cannabinoids make them candidates for antiseizure medications. At this time, anecdotes have outstripped controlled clinical trials as sources of support for their clinical value.”
“Since most patients with schizophrenia do not respond properly to treatment, scientific effort has been driven to the development of new compounds acting on pharmacological targets beyond the dopaminergic system.
Therefore, the aim is to review basic and clinical research findings from studies evaluating the effects of cannabidiol (CBD), an inhibitor of the reuptake and metabolism of anandamide and several other effects on nervous system, and sodium nitroprusside, a nitric oxide donor, on the prevention and treatment of psychosis.
Animal and human research supports that CBD and sodium nitroprusside might be effective in the prevention and treatment of psychosis in general and especially in schizophrenia.
The evidence available to date shows that CBD and sodium nitroprusside act in pathways associated with psychotic symptoms and that they may be important agents in the management of prodromal psychotic states and psychosis.
This underscores the relevance of further research on the effects of these agents and others that mediate the activity of the cannabinoid system and of nitric oxide, as well as comparative studies of their antipsychotic effects and those of other antipsychotic drugs currently used to treat schizophrenia.”
“Chronic inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is accompanied by activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which can support the immune system to perpetuate inflammation. Several animal models of arthritis already demonstrated a profound influence of adrenergic signaling on the course of RA.
Peripheral norepinephrine release from sympathetic terminals is controlled by cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), which is activated by two major endocannabinoids (ECs), arachidonylethanolamine (anandamide) and 2-arachidonylglycerol.
These ECs also modulate function of transient receptor potential channels (TRPs) located on sensory nerve fibers, which are abundant in arthritic synovial tissue. TRPs not only induce the sensation of pain but also support inflammation via secretion of pro-inflammatory neuropeptides.
In addition, many cell types in synovial tissue express CB1 and TRPs.
In this review, we focus on CB1 and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1)-mediated effects on RA since most anti-inflammatory mechanisms induced by cannabinoids are attributed to cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) activation.
We demonstrate how CB1 agonism or antagonism can modulate arthritic disease.
The concept of functional antagonism with continuous CB1 activation is discussed.
Since fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is a major EC-degrading enzyme, the therapeutic possibility of FAAH inhibition is studied.
Finally, the therapeutic potential of ECs is examined since they interact with cannabinoid receptors and TRPs but do not produce central side effects.”
“Depression and pain are two of the most debilitating disorders worldwide and have an estimated cooccurrence of up to 80%. Comorbidity of these disorders is more difficult to treat, associated with significant disability and impaired health-related quality of life than either condition alone, resulting in enormous social and economic cost.
Several neural substrates have been identified as potential mediators in the association between depression and pain, including neuroanatomical reorganization, monoamine and neurotrophin depletion, dysregulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, and neuroinflammation.
However, the past decade has seen mounting evidence supporting a role for the endogenous cannabinoid (endocannabinoid) system in affective and nociceptive processing, and thus, alterations in this system may play a key role in reciprocal interactions between depression and pain.
This review will provide an overview of the preclinical evidence supporting an interaction between depression and pain and the evidence supporting a role for the endocannabinoid system in this interaction.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26342110
“The plant Cannabis sativa has been used as a medicine throughout the world for several thousand years, with reports of its use in treating painful symptoms appearing as early as 2600 BC. The principal psychoactive ingredient of Cannabis sativa, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), was first identified in 1964, and subsequent studies to understand its mechanism of action led to the discovery of the endogenous cannabinoid (endocannabinoid) system… Because of the distribution of the endocannabinoid system throughout spinal and supraspinal regions, it is in a prime position to regulate neurophysiological activities such as affective and nociceptive processing… evidence suggests a prominent role for the endocannabinoid system in the interaction between depression and pain,” http://ijnp.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/09/04/ijnp.pyv095.long