Review of Various Herbal Supplements as Complementary Treatments for Oral Cancer.

Posted on February 13, 2016 by David

Publication Cover

“In the United States, nearly 44,000 people are diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer annually. The life expectancy for those who are diagnosed have a survival rate of 57% after five years. Among them, oral cancer can be classified as benign or malignant tumors and is diagnosed at several stages in the development: premalignant conditions, premalignant lesions, and malignant cancer. The early signs of oral cancer often go unnoticed by the individual and are often discovered during routine dental examinations. Early detection and treatment may help to increase patient survival rates. The most widely used treatments for oral cancer include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy-alone or in combination.

Preclinical and clinical evidence for the use of green tea, raspberry, asparagus, and cannabis extracts is discussed in this review. Diet changes, supplementation with antioxidants, high-dose vitamin C therapy, and cannabinoid use have been suggested to decrease cancer cell replication and increase chance of remission.

Early detection and lifestyle changes, including the use of dietary supplements in at-risk populations, are critical steps in preventing and successfully treating oral cancer. The main evidence for supplement use is currently in cancer prevention rather than treatment.

Further research, determination, and mechanism of action for bioactive compounds such as epigallocatechin, epicatechin-3-gallate, and Bowman-Birk inhibitor concentrate, through in vitro, in vivo, and clinical trials need to be completed to support the use of natural products and their effectiveness in preventative care and supporting therapeutic approaches.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26863913

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/19390211.2015.1122693?journalCode=ijds20

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

Attenuation of cue-induced reinstatement of nicotine seeking by URB597 through cannabinoid CB1 receptor in rats.

Posted on February 13, 2016 by David

“The endocannabinoid system is composed of endocannabinoids (such as anandamide), their target receptors (CB₁ and CB₂ receptors, CB₁Rs and CB₂Rs), the enzymes that degrade them (fatty-acid-amide-hydrolase (FAAH) for anandamide), and an endocannabinoid transporter. FAAH inhibition has been recently identified as having a critical involvement in behaviors related to nicotine addiction and has been shown to reduce the effect of nicotine on the mesolimbic dopaminergic system via CB₁R and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα). Thus, inhibition of FAAH may represent a novel strategy for smoking cessation, but its mechanism of action on relapse to nicotine seeking is still unknown.

OBJECTIVE:

The study aims to explore the mechanism of action of the inhibitor of FAAH activity, URB597, on relapse to nicotine seeking by evaluating the effect of the CB₁R, CB₂R, and PPARα antagonists on the attenuating effect of URB597 on cue-induced reinstatement of nicotine seeking in rats.

RESULTS:

URB597 reduced cue-induced reinstatement of nicotine seeking, an effect that was reversed by the CB₁R antagonist rimonabant, but not by the CB₂R or PPARα antagonists AM630 and MK886, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:

These results indicate that URB597 reduces cue-induced reinstatement in rats through a CB₁ receptor-dependent mechanism, and not via CB₂R or PPARα. Since FAAH inhibition represent a novel and promising strategy for tobacco smoking cessation, dissecting how it produces its action may lead to a better understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying nicotine addiction.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26864774

Cannabidiol Oil for Decreasing Addictive Use of Marijuana: A Case Report.

Posted on February 11, 2016 by David

“This case study illustrates the use of cannabidiol (CBD) oil to decrease the addictive use of marijuana and provide anxiolytic and sleep benefits.

The second most abundant component-CBD-has been suggested to have the medicinal effects of decreasing anxiety, improving sleep, and other neuro-protective effects.

The mechanism of action for CBD has been suggested to be antagonistic to the psychoactive properties of THC in many locations within the central nervous system. Such action raises the issue of whether it might be beneficial to use CBD in isolation to facilitate withdrawal of marijuana use.

With use of the CBD oil, the patient reported being less anxious, as well as settling into a regular pattern of sleep. He also indicated that he had not used any marijuana since starting the CBD oil. With the decrease in the dosage to 18 mg, the patient was able to maintain his nonuse of marijuana.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26807069

Cannabis use and symptoms of anxiety in adolescence and the moderating effect of the serotonin transporter gene.

Posted on February 11, 2016 by David

“Prior studies have concluded that cannabis use alone is not sufficient for the development of long-term anxiety, and it has been suggested that cannabis is simply a risk factor that operates in conjunction with other risk factors.

One such risk factor may be an individuals’ genetic vulnerability.

The present study examines the relationship between cannabis use and symptoms of anxiety by taking a developmental molecular-genetic perspective with a focus on a polymorphism involved in the regulation of serotonin.

The findings of the present study show first evidence that the links between cannabis use and symptoms of anxiety are conditional on the individuals’ genetic make-up.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26860734

Peripubertal treatment with cannabidiol prevents the emergence of psychosis in an animal model of schizophrenia

Posted on February 10, 2016 by David

“Currently, the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia is still associated with significant side effects and high rates of treatment resistance, causing a great deal of suffering to patients and their caregivers. Developing safe interventions able to prevent the emergence of full-blown psychosis would therefore represent a major advance.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychotomimetic compound of Cannabis sativa that presents antipsychotic properties in animal models and humans.

However, despite the growing evidence of CBD’s neuroprotective effects and therapeutic application in schizophrenia, so far no study has addressed its potential as a preventive intervention.”

http://www.schres-journal.com/article/S0920-9964(16)30060-3/abstract

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

Cannabinoid pharmacology in cancer research: A new hope for cancer patients?

Posted on February 9, 2016 by David

Image result for Eur J Pharmacol.

“Cannabinoids have been used for many centuries to ease pain and in the past decade, the endocannabinoid system has been implicated in a number of pathophysiological conditions, such as mood and anxiety disorders, movement disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, stroke, hypertension, glaucoma, obesity, and osteoporosis.

Several studies have demonstrated that cannabinoids also have anti-cancer activity and as cannabinoids are usually well tolerated and do not produce the typical toxic effects of conventional chemotherapies, there is considerable merit in the development of cannabinoids as potential anticancer therapies.

Whilst the presence of psychoactive effects of cannabinoids could prevent any progress in this field, recent studies have shown the value of the non-psychoactive components of cannabinoids in activating apoptotic pathways, inducing anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic effects.

The aforementioned effects are suggested to be through pathways such as ERK, Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathways and hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF1), all of which are important contributors to the hallmarks of cancer.

Many important questions still remain unanswered or are poorly addressed thus necessitating further research at basic pre-clinical and clinical levels. In this review, we address these issues with a view to identifying the key challenges that future research needs to address.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26852955

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

Quantification of pain in sickle mice using facial expressions and body measurements.

Posted on February 9, 2016 by David

“Pain is a hallmark feature of sickle cell disease (SCD). Subjects typically quantify pain by themselves, which can be biased by other factors leading to overtreatment or under-treatment. Reliable and accurate quantification of pain, in real time, might enable to provide appropriate levels of analgesic treatment.

The mouse grimace scale (MGS), a standardized behavioral coding system with high accuracy and reliability has been used to quantify varied types of pain. We hypothesized that addition of the objective parameters of body length and back curvature will strengthen the reproducibility of MGS.

We examined MGS scores and body length and back curvature of transgenic BERK sickle and control mice following cold treatment or following treatment with analgesic cannabinoid CP55,940. We observed that sickle mice demonstrated decreased length and increased back curvature in response to cold. These observations correlate with changes in facial expression for the MGS score.

CP55,940 treatment of sickle mice showed an increase in body length and a decrease in back curvature concordant with MGS scores indicative of an analgesic effect. Thus, body parameters combined with facial expressions may provide a quantifiable unbiased method for objective measure of pain in SCD.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26852657

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/sickle-cell-disease/

Therapeutic Potential of Cannabinoids in Psychosis.

Posted on February 8, 2016 by David

“Over recent years, the interest in the endocannabinoid system (ECS) as a new target for the treatment of schizophrenia has evolved.

The ECS represents one of the most relevant neurotransmitter systems in the brain and mainly fulfills a homeostatic role in terms of neurotransmission but also with respect to inflammatory processes.

Two main approaches to the modulation of endocannabinoid functioning have been chosen so far. First, the selective blockade or inverse agonism of the type 1 cannabinoid receptor has been tested for the improvement of acute psychotic symptoms, as well as for the improvement of cognitive functions in schizophrenia.

Second, the modulation of endocannabinoid levels by use of the phytocannabinoid cannabidiol and selective fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitors has been proposed, and the antipsychotic properties of cannabidiol are currently being investigated in humans.

Unfortunately, for most of these trials that have focused on psychopathological and cognitive effects of cannabidiol, no published data are available. However, there is first evidence that cannabidiol may ameliorate psychotic symptoms with a superior side-effect profile compared with established antipsychotics.

In conclusion, several clinical trials targeting the ECS in acute schizophrenia have either been completed or are underway. Although publicly available results are currently limited, preliminary data indicate that selected compounds modulating the ECS may be effective in acute schizophrenia.

Nevertheless, so far, sample sizes of patients investigated are not sufficient to come to a final judgment, and no maintenance studies are available to ensure long-term efficacy and safety.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26852073

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

A Lower Olfactory Capacity Is Related to Higher Circulating Concentrations of Endocannabinoid 2-Arachidonoylglycerol and Higher Body Mass Index in Women.

Posted on February 8, 2016 by David

“The endocannabinoid (eCB) system can promote food intake by increasing odor detection in mice.

The eCB system is over-active in human obesity.

Our aim is to measure circulating eCB concentrations and olfactory capacity in a human sample that includes people with obesity and explore the possible interaction between olfaction, obesity and the eCB system.

Our results show that obese subjects have a lower olfactory capacity than non-obese ones and that elevated fasting plasma circulating 2-AG concentrations in obesity are linked to a lower olfactory capacity.

In agreement with previous studies we show that eCBs AEA and 2-AG, and their respective congeners have a distinct profile in relation to body mass index. The present report is the first study in humans in which olfactory capacity and circulating eCB concentrations have been measured in the same subjects.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26849214

Harvesting the biosynthetic machineries that cultivate a variety of indispensable plant natural products.

Posted on February 8, 2016 by David

“Plants are a sustainable resource for valuable natural chemicals best illustrated by large-scale farming centered on specific products. Here, we review recent discoveries of plant metabolic pathways producing natural products with unconventional biomolecular structures.

Prenylation of polyketides by aromatic prenyltransferases (aPTases) ties together two of the major groups of plant specialized chemicals, terpenoids and polyketides, providing a core modification leading to new bioactivities and downstream metabolic processing. Moreover, PTases that biosynthesize Z-terpenoid precursors for small molecules such as lycosantalene have recently been found in the tomato family.

Gaps in our understanding of how economically important compounds such as cannabinoids are produced are being identified using next-generation ‘omics’ to rapidly advance biochemical breakthroughs at an unprecedented rate. For instance, olivetolic acid cyclase, a polyketide synthase (PKS) co-factor from Cannabis sativa, directs the proper cyclization of a polyketide intermediate.

Elucidations of spatial and temporal arrangements of biosynthetic enzymes into metabolons, such as those used to control the efficient production of natural polymers such as rubber and defensive small molecules such as linamarin and lotaustralin, provide blueprints for engineering streamlined production of plant products.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26851514